Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on June 3
We’re keeping track of the latest news regarding the coronavirus in South Florida and around the state.
Check back for updates on COVID-19 throughout the day.
CUBA GRAPPLES WITH NEW COVID-19 OUTBREAK
5:54 p.m.: Even as Cuba’s official statistics were showing a decrease in new coronavirus cases, Havana itself got another taste of how contagious the new virus really is: One woman was patient zero in a massive outbreak that started in a store and spilled over to a lab facility and a state transport company.
The outbreak, which has sickened 124 people so far, began at the popular La Época store, a supermarket in Centro Habana area that sells food, home appliances and various household items. It was closed to the public but was working to fulfill orders from state enterprises.
Read the full story here.
UNIVERSAL REOPENS TO ANNUAL PASS HOLDERS
5:20 p.m.: Universal Studios Florida won’t officially reopen until Friday, but it became the first major theme park in Florida to reopen its doors amid the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday when Universal Studios gave annual pass holders a sneak peek of what crowds can expect when park officially opens later in the week.
Universal team members greeted visitors as they entered the park, which opened with social distancing rules including face masks, mandatory temperature checks, limited capacity and open seats between patrons on group rides.
Read the full story here.
YOU CAN SOON GET TESTED FOR COVID-19 AT SELECT PUBLIX STORES
4:50 p.m.: COVID-19 walk-up testing sites will be opening at three Publix stores in Florida on Thursday as part of a partnership with the state to increase testing accessibility. It’s part of the state’s plan to open at least six additional walk-up sites, including at select Home Depot stores.
All three walk-up sites open Thursday and will be able to conduct up to 100 tests per day, according to Florida’s Division of Emergency Management. Testing is free and will be available to anyone who is over the age of 18, whether or not they have symptoms. The sites will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Read the full story here.
MLS LOCKS IN CENTRAL FLORIDA RETURN-TO-PLAY PLAN
4:20 p.m.: Major League Soccer has averted a lockout and will return to play this summer with a made-for-television tournament at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Players agreed to take a 5 percent pay cut for the 2020 season after the league proposed pay cuts of up to 20 percent. Players will also accept a reduced share of media rights fees in 2023.
The details of the tournament are still being worked out, but commissioner Don Garber said the tentative plan is to have all 26 teams, including Inter Miami, convene in Central Florida on June 24 and begin playing games in July. Teams and MLS officials will be sequestered at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
Read the full story here.
FLORIDA AWARDED NEARLY $252 MILLION IN FEMA AID
3:50 p.m.: Florida will receive nearly $252 million in aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reimburse the state for costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday. The total approved cost is nearly $336 million and the federal share will acount for 75 percent of the costs.
“Florida’s targeted and data-driven approach to fighting COVID-19 and our actions to protect the most vulnerable have flattened the curve in Florida,” DeSantis said in a statement. “These additional federal funds will further our efforts to expedite critical projects as we move forward our safe, smart, step-by-step plan for Florida’s recovery.”
Funds awarded by FEMA through its Public Assistance Grants program. FEMA worked directly with the Florida Department of Emergency Estimates to develop project estimates.
Florida activated its Emergency Operations Center in March in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The center trained personnel, and purchased personal protective equipment like N95 masks and medical gloves. The state also purchased ventilators and increased law enforcement presence at testing sites and hospitals. FEMA’s funding will help reimburse Florida for all these costs and more.
In response to COVID-19, Florida activated its Emergency Operations Center, provided training to personnel, purchased and delivered critical medical supplies such as N95 masks, medical gowns and latex gloves to hospitals and first responders. Additionally, the state augmented medical staffing, purchased ventilators and increased law enforcement presence at testing sites and hospitals. This funding also reimburses the state for emergency protective measures which include meals for emergency workers and the purchase and distribution of food, water and ice.
“Never before has our nation seen a time when all 50 states had a disaster declaration from FEMA, and so we knew how critical it would be to work closely with our federal partners and get these requests in early,” FDEM director Jared Moskowitz said in a statement. “We strategically submitted large projects to be expedited, allowing Florida to receive one of the largest awards so far in the country. Receiving this funding today is a huge win, and I’m thankful to FEMA for their support.”
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CLEVELANDER SET TO REOPEN
2:51 p.m.: The Clevelander South Beach Hotel and Bar is set to reopen for dine-in services this week. The Miami Beach staple won’t exactly look the same as it usually does, but it’s a step to get the party hotspot back open as Florida prepares to move into Phase II of its reopening plan, which will allow bars to reopen.
With Ocean Drive blocked off to traffic, the Clevelander will expand outdoor seating as other parts of the bar remain closed.
Read the full story here.
WE’RE TALKING TO COVID ANTIBODY EXPERT. WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS?
2 p.m.: The Miami Herald is hosting a question-and-answer session with a COVID-19 antibody expert and wants to hear your questions.
On Thursday, the Herald will host a live video chat with Erin N. Kobetz, professor of medicine and public health sciences at the University of Miami, to discuss the university’s partnership with Miami-Dade County to test for antibodies.
Read the full story here.
FLORIDA MOVES INTO PHASE II OF REOPEN PLAN
1:30 p.m.: Movie theaters, bars and bowling alleys can begin to reopen across most of Florida on Friday as the state moves into Phase II of its reopening plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday the state — with the exception of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties — will move into the second phase of reopening Friday, which will allow bars, movie theaters and bowling alleys to open at 50 percent capacity.
DeSantis’ announcement comes on the same day the state announced its largest single-day case increase since April.
Read the full story here.
NBA NEARS RETURN PLAN FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA
1 p.m.: The NBA is on the verge of approving a return-to-play plan, ESPN reported, and it would mean 22 teams heading to Central Florida this summer to wrap up the regular season and the playoffs.
The top 16 teams in each conference will be joined by every team within six games of the final playoff spots to close out the regular season at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. These 22 teams, including the Miami Heat, will play eight regular season games, then move on to the postseason, which will include a play-in tournament for the final spot in each conference’s playoff bracket. NBA owners will vote on the plan Thursday and are expected to approve the proposal.
Read the full story here.
SPIRIT BEEFS UP SOUTH FLORIDA FLIGHT SCHEDULE
12:30 p.m.: Spirit Airlines plans to more than triple its current service out of Fort Lauderdale by the end of July, the airline announced Wednesday.
The return of many of the low-cost airline’s pre-pandmic flights to its home base at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport came sooner than expected as demand has taken off, said John Kirby, Spirit’s vice president of network planning. The company, based in Miramar, had scaled down its operations to less than 10% of pre-pandemic capacity in May, and will be back to about 70% of capacity by July, compared to the same period last year, pending flight approvals from other countries.
Read the full story here.
FLORIDA’S UPDATED CASE NUMBERS
Noon: COVID-19 cases in Florida surged Wednesday with 1,317 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus — the largest single-day total since April. The total of cases has now climbed past 58,000. There were also 36 new deaths, raising the statewide total to 2,566.
In Miami-Dade County, there are 232 new cases. In Broward County, there are just 91 new cases. Palm Beach County had the largest total in South Florida on Wednesday with 258 new cases. Monroe County did not report any new cases two days after checkpoints came down separating the Florida Keys from the rest of the state.
Read the full story here.
HEAT’S JIMMY BUTLER RETURNS TO MIAMI AS NBA PLAN CLARIFIES
11:30 a.m.: Miami Heat All-Star Jimmy Butler returned to South Florida this week as the NBA prepares to take the next step in its return from its lengthy layoff amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NBA’s Board of Governors plans to vote Thursday on a return-to-play plan and owners are expected to approve commissioner Adam Silver’s recommendation to restart the season this summer in Central Florida. The Heat, which has the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference, will take part in any widely proposed scenario, so the few Miami players who spent the hiatus out of the area are working to get back to Florida. Butler is one of three Heat players who spent the last two months in California and all but one are now back in the state.
Read the full story here.
CDC UNVEILS NEW GRADING SYSTEM FOR CRUISE SHIPS
11 a.m.: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have unveiled a new grading system for cruise ships and it could help some of the stranded crew on these ships get home after months at sea throughout the COVID-19 epidemic.
The ships will be graded on a color-coded system: green for no confirmed cases of COVID-19 or COVID-like illness for 28 days, yellow for one or more COVID-like illness cases pending confirmation, red for one or more cases of confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-like illness within the past 28 days. If the ship is designated green, commercial transportation for crew repatriation is allowed. More than 62,000 crew members are still waiting to go home.
Read the full story here.
MIAMI ATHLETIC DIRECTOR EXPECTS SEASON TO START ON TIME
10:30 a.m.: Miami Hurricanes athletic director Blake James said Wednesday on WQAM he has a “gut” feeling the college football season will start on time with some measure of fans in the stands.
“My gut today is we start on time probably without fans in the stands,’’ James said in an appearance on “The Joe Rose Show with Zach Krantz,” “and, again, that could all change because look at it. We’re not even three months from March 12, when this all hit, and we’re still three months away from Sept. 5 when our first game is to be played, so to say what it’s going to look like on Sept. 5 I think is difficult.”
Read the full story here, and check out the latest episode of the Eye on the U podcast, which touches on the George Floyd protests and the coronavirus restart plans in Coral Gables.
LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN BALANCE REOPENING WITH SPREADING VIRUS
10 a.m.: With 250,000 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the Caribbean in the last week, the Americas now account for more than half of new cases worldwide. The Pan American Health Organization said Tuesday it should serve as a wake-up call to redouble efforts to deal with the pandemic.
This all comes as Latin American and Caribbean countries are beginning to reopen their tourism-dependent economies, even as the curve continues to sharply rise in some countries.
“This means that more people will be sick tomorrow than were yesterday,” said Dr. Carrisa Etienne, the director of the World Health Organization’s Americas office.
Read the full story here.
CARIBBEAN NATIONS BEGIN REOPENING TO TOURISM
9:30 a.m.: Caribbean nations are reopening their airports and relaunching their tourism brands this week as the countries try to restart their tourism-dependent economies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Testing will play a huge role in the countries’ abilities to reopen safely.
In the United States Virgin Islands, the airports never closed, but the country’s tourism board began inviting travelers to the islands once again Monday. The US Virgin Islands plans to temperature screen at airports, and require visitors to wear masks and social distance once in the territory.
Other nations will reopen their airports later in the week. Both the airport serving the eastern Caribbean islands, and the airport serving Antigua and Barbuda plan to open back up Thursday. Both airports will require passengers to take part in some degree of testing.
Read the full story here.
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CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
9 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Wednesday begins.
▪ Florida had 617 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the lowest single-day total since last Wednesday. The state’s total passed 57,000.
▪ Hotels reopened in Miami-Dade County on Monday, but Loews Miami Beach Hotel still laid off hundreds of employees Tuesday. Loews Hotels announced 579 employees will have their “temporary layoff” period extended at least sixth months and 144 others will be permanently laid off.
▪ The InterContinental Miami, Loews Miami Beach, the Miami Biltmore Hotel and the Fontainebleau Miami Beach were some of the notable hotels to open Monday, with some serious precautions.
▪ Beaches in Miami-Dade, which were scheduled to reopen Monday, could stay closed through the weekend. County police director Freddy Ramirez proposed a curfew stay in place through the weekend as protests continue following the killing of George Floyd and Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez said beaches won’t reopen until the curfew ends.
▪ Local elected officials are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to allow bars and clubs to reopen. Establishments which make more than 50 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales are unable to reopen until the state moves into Phase II of reopening.
▪ Marcia G. Cookie, a United States federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, told U.S. immigration officials to “work out” a way for three South Florida detainees to testify virtually.
▪ The Miami Hurricanes have two-thirds of their football team back in the Miami metropolitan area, coach Manny Diaz said, and the team regained access to their Greentree Practice Fields on campus in Coral Gables on Tuesday.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on June 3."
