5:45 p.m.: Businesses in nearly all walks have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have managed to adjust to a new way of life, though, and it’s not just by implementing social-distancing measures.
DC Style Corp, which focused on printing signs and embroidering hats or shirts prior to the health crisis, pivoted to making masks and face shields when the coronavirus outbreak began. At its peak, the Miami company was making 1,000 masks each week, and DC Style isn’t alone. Businesses all across South Florida have found ways to fill new demands in a changing world.
FLORIDA COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19
5:15 p.m.: College football players have begun returning to campuses across the country this month and schools are handling their returns in a variety of manners. Some are testing everyone for COVID-19, while others are only testing those with symptoms before letting them have access to facilities. At two Florida schools, at least one player has tested positive.
The Florida State Seminoles and Central Florida Knights both announced players have tested positive since returning to campus. Florida State has one player with the coronavirus, while Central Florida had three positive tests among 60 players. The players at both schools will quarantine and self isolate for two weeks.
PANHANDLING REMAINS ILLEGAL IN MIAMI BEACH DESPITE REOPENING
4:40 p.m.: In May, the city made it “temporarily unlawful” for those experiencing homelessness to ask for money or services closer than 50 feet, “from the entrance or service window of any essential retail and commercial business or restaurant or food service establishment.
The order by city manager Jimmy Morales was made after he was granted emergency powers when he declared a state of emergency. Even as more and more reopens in Miami Beach, the panhandling ban will remain in effect as long as the state of emergency does, mayor Dan Gelber said in a statement.
In this Feb. 24, 2019, file photo, a NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series auto race starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. NASCAR and IndyCar have each called off their races this weekend. NASCAR was scheduled to run Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway without spectators but said Friday, March 13, 2020, it is calling off this weekend and next week’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. IndyCar was scheduled to open its season Sunday on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, but suspended it’s season through the end of April. Scott Cunningham AP
HOMESTEAD SPEEDWAY WILL RUN RACE WITH SMALL GROUP OF FANS
4:05 p.m.: Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the first major professional sporting events in South Florida this weekend when NASCAR runs a series of races in Homestead. On Sunday, the Dixie Vodka 400, the signature event of the weekend, will even have a small group of fans in attendance.
NASCAR will host 1,000 military service members from South Florida as honorary guests Sunday for the NASCAR Cup Series race. It will mark the first time a sporting event in Florida has been held with non-essential personnel in attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March.
“The ability to host guests for the Dixie Vodka 400 is an important step in the return of live sporting events across the globe,” Homestead-Miami Speedway president Al Garcia said in a statement. “The opening of our track 25 years ago was a sign of hope following the devastation in South Miami-Dade County as a result of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Today we are privileged and feel a deep sense of responsibility for the same chance during these challenging times. Having South Florida service members at our race is a true honor, and is very symbolic as we begin to have guests back at our NASCAR events.”
UNEMPLOYMENT SYSTEM EVEN MAKES IT HARD TO CORRECT OVERPAYS
2:50 p.m.: Florida’s struggles to pay out unemployment benefits to those out of work is now documented by now, but the state’s unemployment system is struggling in another unusual way: It’s also making it hard to return unemployment checks made in error.
Florida officials say those who fear they’ve been overpaid should hold on to the money for the time being. If the state finds the money is an overpayment, officials will eventually send for the money in the form of a “Notice of Determination,” department spokeswoman Paige Landrum said in an email.
1 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 1,096 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total 66,000 new cases.There were also 53 new deaths announced, raising the statewide toll to 2,765. This is the sixth time in the last seven days the state reported more than 1,000 new cases of the coronavirus.
Miami-Dade County reported 224 new cases of the virus and seven new deaths, and Broward County reported 111 cases and three deaths. Palm Beach County reported 189 new cases and 15 new deaths. Monroe County did not report any new cases or deaths.
The uptick in new cases is largely do to the growth of Florida’s testing numbers in recent days and weeks, although testing data for Tuesday was not immediately available. The total percentage of positive tests has dropped to about 5.25 percent.
THE LATEST ON HOW COVID-19 COULD AFFECT COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Noon: The Miami Hurricanes football team regained access to their team facilities last week — another good sign for sports fans hoping for football to return on time in the fall.
Will fans be in attendance when the season begins? Miami athletic director Blake James doesn’t think so. A new episode of the Eye on the U podcast, the Miami Herald’s Hurricanes podcast, breaks down all the latest developments in how COVID-19 is affecting Miami football.
11 a.m.: Beaches in Miami-Dade County reopen Wednesday, but are beaches actually bad?
Is a day in the sun really worth the potential for jellyfish stings and being forced to unveil your quarantine body? The hater’s guide to the beach makes the case against a South Florida pastime as beaches in MIami-Dade finally open after nearly three months closed.
At center is Amy Scott, an IB Language Arts teacher at Coral Reef Senior High, who retired after 44 years. Her students came to see her at home in Coral Gables on Thursday, June 4, 2020. Courtesy of Amy Scott
COVID-19 CHASES BELOVED TEACHER INTO RETIREMENT
10:10 a.m.: Amy Scott always joked that she would teach until she dropped dead in the classroom. She retired early Friday after 44 1/2 years teaching because she feared her quip could become reality.
For the last two decades, Scott taught a capstone course called Theory of Knowledge for seniors in the International Baccalaureate program at Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami. The course was part philosophy, part critical thinking and drew from all subjects. She challenged the bright minds before her and tested their arguments.
Scott agonized over her decision to quit. She’s turning 70 this year, and it wasn’t worth her health and happiness. Neither was it worth what learning turned into during the pandemic: impersonal and disengaging. Scott knows a vaccine or herd immunity won’t work by this fall. She couldn’t fathom another year of teaching socratic work to an array of muted boxes on a screen.
9:30 a.m.: For Miami-Dade County’s legion of gym rats, the official reopening of fitness centers, studios and workout facilities Monday brought one thought to everyone’s mind: finally.
Gyms, which had been closed since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, reopened Monday after nearly three months closed. Returning gym rats had to adjust to some new rules, though. Socially distanced workouts in Miami-Dade mean staying 10 feet apart, gyms are required to have industrial-strength air circulation systems to keep the facilities free of germs and hand-sanitizing stations are now everywhere.
9 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 Department of Health on Monday confirmed 966 additional cases of COVID-19, ending a five-day streak with more than 1,000 new cases as testing has increased. 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.
▪ Beaches in Miami-Dade County will reopen Wednesday after Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez lifted the county’s curfew Monday. Beaches were originally supposed to open June 1 before Gimenez put a curfew in place in response to the ongoing George Floyd protests.
▪ After spending months responding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is more ready than ever to handle hurricane season.
▪ 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.
▪ Florida is about to become the center of the sports world as Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista prepares to host 22 NBA teams and all 26 Major League Soccer teams when play resumes in the two leagues next month.
▪ Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is still digesting the idea of playing in a bubble location with no fans in attendance to close out the season.
▪ Bars in the Florida Keys are back open as Monroe County moved into Phase 2 of reopening Friday.
