Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on June 8
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.
PERFORMERS DROP OUT OF MIAMI BROWARD CARNIVAL
5:50 p.m.: Organizers of Miami Broward Carnival hope to have the celebration of Caribbean culture go on this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, but some bands are unsure about performing. On Monday, the South Florida Carnival Band Leaders Association, citing “the increased and overwhelming concerns” about COVID-19, announced it would not be participating in the October event.
Carnival organizers say they know there will need to be changes to this year’s festivities, which draws revelers and artists from across the Caribbean and New York, but specific changes are still a work in progress, a source said.
Read the full story here.
FEMA: COVID-19 HELPED WITH HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS
5:20 p.m.: After months of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic across the nation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says it has never been more ready for hurricane season.
At a Doral press conference Monday, FEMA administrator Peter Gaynor said people should plan on leaving more time to evacuate this year if a hurricane hits, but he ensured the agency is prepared to potentially handle two state emergencies at once. FEMA’s budget for nationwide response, he said, is double what it usually is going into hurricane season — $80 billion versus the typical $40 billion.
Read the full story here.
FLORIDA IS ABOUT TO BECOME CENTER OF SPORTS WORLD
4:50 p.m.: Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex has held plenty of big sporting events before, but usually they’re just one-off high school or college tournaments. Next month, Lake Buena Vista will become the center of the sports world as 22 NBA teams and all 26 Major League Soccer teams descend upon Central Florida to resume their seasons amid COVID-19. The MLS will bring about 1,200 people to Disney World. The NBA will bring about 1,500 as it tries to close out the regular season and play the entire postseason.
It will be a massive undertaking for Disney and all of Greater Orlando, but they feel well equipped to handle it and they’re grateful to bring some sort of tourism back to the region.
Read the full story here.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY BEACHES WILL REOPEN WEDNESDAY
4:20 p.m.: Miami-Dade County’s curfew is over and county beaches will finally reopen Wednesday, more than a week later than originally planned.
Miami-Dade beaches have been closed since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic and were scheduled to reopen June 1 before protests broke out across the country in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez put a curfew in place after the first night of protests in South Florida led to looting and burned police cars. Since some isolated incidents on the first night, protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful in the county.
Read the full story here.
HEAT COACH WEIGHS IN ON NBA RETURN-TO-PLAY PLAN
3:30 p.m.: In the next month, the Miami Heat will move from South Florida to Central Florida to begin preparing to close out the season at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The 22 teams traveling to Lake Buena Vista will be kept in a “bubble,” so they can finish out the regular season and eventually crown a champion. It’s an unprecedented move, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it took him a few days to process it. He knows it will be a challenge, but he’s also excited about some of the purity of the no-fan experience.
“I think in many ways, it’s the purest form of competition,” Spoelstra said. “It’s just going to be about basketball, competition, which team can perform at a higher level than the other team and do it without the other motivations or potential energy from a fan base.”
Read the full the story here.
BARS REOPEN IN FLORIDA KEYS
2:30 p.m.: While most of South Florida is not yet in Phase 2 of reopening, Monroe County began the phase with the rest of the state Friday, which means bars are back open in the Florida Keys, although they won’t quite look normal yet.
Phase 2 still includes restrictions for such establishments, including a 50-percent indoor capacity limit, extensive government-mandated cleaning protocols and a recommendation for employees to wear facial coverings.
Read the full story here.
FLORIDA’S UPDATED CASE NUMBERS
1:35 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 966 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total closer to 65,000 known cases. The state now has a total of 64,904 confirmed cases. There were also 12 new deaths announced, raising the statewide toll to 2,712.
Miami-Dade County reported 209 new cases and two new deaths, and Broward County confirmed 120 new cases and four new deaths. Palm Beach County reported 99 new cases and one new death, while Monroe County reported three new cases without any deaths.
The last week has seen some of the highest positive test numbers, but it comes as the state has massively improved its testing protocol. The percentage of positive tests has held steadily around 5.25 percent despite the six straight days with more than 900 positive tests.
Read the full story here.
MASSIVE COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN HAITI PROMPTS CONTROVERSIAL RESPONSE
12:45 p.m.: COVID-19 is so prevalent in Haiti right now, a top medical authority in the country said there’s no longer a need to test to declare someone is infected.
“All patients presenting with symptoms here have over 80 percent probability to have it,” said Dr. Jean William “Bill” Pape, co-president of Haiti’s presidential response commission. “Almost all patients with [symptoms] of COVID-19 test positive. Hence no real need to perform the test.”
Since Haiti confirmed its first two infections in March, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases have spiked to 3,334 with 51 deaths in the population of nearly of 11 million. The country, however, has only tested 7,351 suspected cases — far less than the 94,000 performed in the neighboring Dominican Republic, where there are 19,600 confirmed cases and 538 deaths in a population of roughly the same size.
Read the full story here.
CELEBRITIES START TO RESURFACE AS SOUTH FLORIDA REOPENS
12:15 p.m.: A sign that things are returning to normal after a protracted lockdown: the celebrities are going back out there. Cedric Gervais, a Grammy Award-winning DJ, spent the weekend celebrating his 41st birthday at the newly reopened Swan restaurant in the Design District. Just a few weeks ago, Gervais was giving a socially distant balcony concert to honor first responders in Edgewater.
Swan owner Dave Grutman documented the festivities on Instagram, giving a glimpse into the party which included a ton of food, skinny women in bandage dresses and a giant cake with sparklers. It also included socially distant tables, masked waitstaff and an elimination of physical menus in favor of using phones.
Celebrities: They handle COVID-19 — sort of — just like us.
Read the full story here.
INMATES SHARE STORIES OF COVID-19 STRUGGLES
11:15 p.m.: As of Monday, 17 deaths in Florida prisons have been attributed to COVID-19. More than 1,500 inmates and 290 staff members have been affected. The rate, per 10,000, of COVID-19 cases among Florida’s inmates is roughly six times that of the rate among the state’s general population and the death rate is 34 percent higher.
What is it like to be an inmate living with the coronavirus? Several shared their stories with the Miami Herald, often painting a picture of neglect or inadequate care.
Read the full story here.
ART BASEL CANCELS SWISS FAIR; MIAMI BEACH STILL ON
10:45 a.m.: Art Basel flagship show in Switzerland is off for 2020. The international art fair was originally scheduled for June and later pushed back to September before organizers decided to cancel the show because of COVID-19 concerns. The fair’s Miami Beach show, however, is still on, as of now.
Art Basel Americas director Noah Horowitz said last month the organizers intend to continue the Miami Beach fair in December, with the cavet, “none of us has a crystal ball.”
Read the full story here.
SENATE DEMS CALL FOR INVESTIGATION OF FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT
10 a.m.: Two Democrats in the United States Senate are asking the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate Florida’s failure to process and pay out unemployment claims.
In a letter to the department’s inspector general sent Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, wrote Florida’s failures stand out even among other states that have struggled to pay their out-of-work residents. The senators are asking U.S. Labor Department Inspector General Scott Dahl to investigate Florida’s problems and look at whether state officials have been properly distributing federal aid for the coronavirus crisis.
Florida has struggled to process the nearly 2.4 million claims it has received. During the first month of the crisis, Florida was the slowest state in the nation to process claims and was the only state in the nation to see its trust fund increase.
Read the full story here.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY TODAY?
9:30 a.m.: Miami-Dade County hits another checkpoint Monday in reopening amid COVID-19. Gyms, tattoo shops, massage parlors, dog parks and libraries all reopen. Newlyweds can start looking into book banquet halls for parties again. Summer camps and short-term vacation rentals are ready to begin once again.
This is all part of the county’s Phase Green Flag and Phase Blue Flag — is different from Florida’s Phase 2, which began in everywhere but Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties Friday. Casinos, movie theaters, bowling alleys, beaches and large gathering areas remain closed, although the beaches will reopen whenever the county lifts the curfew it is using to combat the ongoing George Floyd protests.
Read the full story here.
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 Monday begins:
▪ Florida had a fifth straight day with more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19, but it comes as testing numbers have increased and the percentage of positive tests have mostly held steady.
▪ Dog parks reopen in Miami-Dade County on Monday, as do gyms, libraries and summer camps.
▪ “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” will start airing from the show’s Miami Beach studio Monday. Host Dan Le Batard, co-host Jon Weiner, and producer Mike Ryan will broadcast the popular ESPN Radio show from the Clevelander South Beach Hotel and Bar with help from a remote production staff.
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 9:07 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on June 8."
