Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on May 19
We’re keeping track of the latest news regarding the coronavirus in South Florida and around the state. Check back for updates throughout the day.
Protest outside Broward Commission Chambers
4:40 p.m.: Members of the The Reopen South Florida Group protested outside the Broward County Commission Chambers during its closed-door meeting Tuesday afternoon.
The group wants to remove all conditions — including having to wear masks in grocery stores and re-opened restaurants — placed on businesses. They also want the return of full access to natural areas and open spaces despite the risk of catching or spreading the coronavirus.
“If they are not going to make decisions in the full view of the public, then the public should not be obliged to respect those decisions,” Rachael Love Cohen, the group’s founding member, said in a statement “It’s obvious they are completely disregarding the consent of the governed.”
Florida loses 55 to COVID-19. Here is where
3:55 p.m.: Since 11 a.m. on May 18, the Florida Department of Health reported that 55 more people have died who tested positive for COVID-19. These are the counties in which they lived: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Calhoun, Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Manatee, Martin, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, St. Lucie, Volusia and Walton counties.
Researching a pandemic: Miami-Dade and UM antibody survey switches to a better test
3 p.m: Miami-Dade County’s antibody blood survey that estimated some 165,000 people had been infected by the novel coronavirus has been placed on hold after federal regulations spurred county officials and University of Miami researchers to switch tests.
“We were always aware that there might be a need for us to modify how we were approaching community surveillance, given new knowledge that we couldn’t anticipate at the outset,” lead researcher Dr. Erin Kobetz said.
Read the full story here.
Amid arcane COVID-19 transfer rules, a prominent Cuban exile ping-ponged between homes
2:20 p.m.: Antonio Veciana was scheduled to move back to Casa Marisa, an elder-care facility in Miami-Dade County, after a brief rehabilitation stint at Coral Gables’ Riviera Health Resort. Casa Marisa, however, refused to take him.
The reason: Riviera did not test him to ensure he did not carry the coronavirus before initiating the transfer.
As a result, the frail 91-year-old ended up stuck on a bus while two facilities debated what to do with him.
Read the full story here.
Opa-locka opens new walk-up testing site
1:50 p.m.: Miami-Dade County opened a new walk-up testing site in Opa-locka Tuesday for COVID-19 coronavirus testing to symptomatic and asymptomatic people who are 12 or older.
The Community Based Testing Site is at Sherbondy Park, 380 Bahman Ave. The site’s hours are 9 a.m.-3 p.m. every day and can conduct 200 tests per day. There is no charge to get a test and you don’t need a doctor’s note or prescription.
“It is crucial to ramp up testing in the City of Opa-locka so we can get a more accurate idea of the spread of COVID-19 in our community,” Opa-locka Mayor Matthew Pigatt said in a statement. “It is also crucial for everyone in the community to have access to testing, to better protect themselves and their families.”
Though walk-ins are welcome, patients are still encouraged to call 305-499-8767 to pre-register before you get to the site.
Coral Gables’ mayor lifts city’s curfew
Noon: Coral Gables Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli announced the first phase of the City Beautiful’s reopening process. One part: lifting the city’s curfew for select businesses. You still have to follow social distancing guidelines if this is going to work, however.
Coronavirus death toll in Florida now past 2,000 as the number of cases nears 47,000
11:30 a.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday morning confirmed 502 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total of confirmed cases closer to 47,000. The state now has a total of 46,944 known cases.
There were also 55 new deaths announced.
Read more about how Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties fared here.
Two children in South Florida hospitalized for inflammatory illness linked to coronavirus
10:20 a.m.: At least two children in South Florida are hospitalized for an inflammatory illness that health officials believe is connected to COVID-19.
The children are being cared for at Holtz Children’s Hospital in Miami, Jackson Health System confirmed Tuesday morning.
Read the full story here.
A Miami Springs motel was her pandemic shelter. A guest tried selling her for sex, cops say
10:05 a.m.: After an argument with her boyfriend in the Florida Keys — and during the height of the pandemic shutdowns — a 21-year-old woman thought she’d found safe shelter at a Miami Springs motel earlier this month.
Instead, cops say, another guest took her photos, gave her fake eyelashes and nail polish and tried to sell her for sex.
Read the full story here.
Free food distributions are ongoing
9:50 a.m. Several sites have been set up to offer free drive-through food giveways in Miami-Dade, Broward and the Florida Keys this week. Here’s one happening in Miami on Tuesday morning.
Miami Children’s Museum joined with Caleb & Calder Sloan’s Awesome Foundation and partnered with Farm Share for the Awesome Food Giveaway at 9 a.m.-noon, Tuesday, May 19, at Miami Children’s Museum, 980 MacArthur Causeway, on Watson Island in Miami.
This pot of money is there to help the jobless. Florida can’t figure out how to tap it
9:40 a.m.: Fifty-three days after Congress passed the CARES Act, Floridian Tim Young still waits on jobless benefits. He fits in a particularly uncomfortable niche: people who had exhausted their annual state benefits before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the nation.
Federal emergency funds were aside to fill this gap, but Florida has yet to put in place a mechanism for Young and others to receive it.
Read the full story here.
Churches will soon hold Mass again, Archdiocese of Miami says. But with changes
9 a.m.: Catholic churches will reopen their doors for daily Mass beginning May 26, the Archdiocese of Miami announced Monday.
Florida Keys churches were given the go-ahead to open immediately.
But worshiping will come with a set of new rules, including having to wear a mask and not being able to hold hands during prayers.
Read the full story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
8:50 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Tuesday begins.
▪ Florida’s COVID-19 website guru blasts bosses, hints at data suppression.
▪ Not everyone who gets a stimulus check can spend it. IRS sends payments to the dead.
▪ South Florida is reopening after coronavirus closings. But there are things you can’t do.
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 9:08 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on May 19."
