Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on August 5
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.
Miami-Dade and United Way partner for emergency assistance
4:40 p.m.: On Wednesday afternoon, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced that the county has partnered with United Way of Miami-Dade to help provide emergency assistance and relief during the coronavirus pandemic to individuals and families.
The Miami-Dade Pandemic Assistance Program is designed to address short-term economic hardship through financial assistance for basic living expenses such as food, utilities, childcare, medical expenses and rental assistance, among other needs.
“With five out of 10 households (54%) in Miami-Dade County living in, or one emergency away from, poverty, the pandemic has exacerbated an already difficult situation for ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) individuals and families,” the mayor’s office said.
The Miami-Dade Pandemic Assistance Program is funded by the federal CARES Act. The county chose the United Way to distribute $20 million in federal funds, the mayor said.
Individuals and/or families who have experienced a significant loss of income, become unemployed, underemployed and/or experienced unexpected expenses as a result of COVID-19 and are residents of Miami-Dade County can apply for assistance beginning Wednesday, Aug. 5. The application is available in English, Spanish and Creole at apply.unitedwaymiami.org/submit. For assistance, call 305-646-7068.
“We have seen firsthand the hardships our ALICE population is facing through the emergency response efforts we began in March. COVID-19 has tested our community’s resolve while underscoring the power of working together toward the greater good,” Maria Alonso, president and CEO of United Way of Miami-Dade, said in a media release. “We are grateful for our County’s trust and are proud to partner in this critical effort to lift up our neighbors in this time of great need.”
Virus testing in the US is dropping, even as deaths mount
2:20 p.m.: U.S. testing for the coronavirus is dropping even as infections remain high and the death toll rises by more than 1,000 a day, a worrisome trend that officials attribute largely to Americans getting discouraged over having to wait hours to get a test and days or weeks to find out the results.
An Associated Press analysis found that the number of tests per day slid 3.6% over the past two weeks to 750,000, with the count falling in 22 states.
Read the story here.
Industry cancels U.S. cruises until Oct. 31, one month after CDC ban expires
2:05 p.m.: Cruise companies are canceling U.S. cruises until at least Oct. 31.
The industry lobbying group Cruise Lines International Association announced Wednesday that its member lines won’t be coming back until at least that date. In June, the group agreed to cancel U.S. cruises through mid-September, before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention banned cruises until Oct. 1.
CLIA member companies include Florida-based Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, MSC Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages.
Read the story here.
‘Now you’ve got coronavirus,’ Florida man tells boy to his face as the spit flies
1:30 p.m.: Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 47-year-old Florida man after accusing him of grabbing a boy, telling him to take off his mask, getting in his face and saying, ‘now you’ve got coronavirus’ at Gulf Coast restaurant. The man was so close the boy told deputies he could feel “spit particles” landing in his face, according to the arrest report.
Read the story here.
Sick ICE detainees are scared to die of COVID. Some beg federal judge to release them
12:05 p.m.: The list of immigration detainees personally asking a Miami federal judge to release them from COVID-19-riddled detention centers in South Florida continues to grow.
The new requests for release — each about 200 pages long — began to trickle in about two weeks ago after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement revealed that a detainee had died of the virus at a Palm Beach County hospital. It was, and remains, the state’s first reported COVID death of an immigration detainee.
In their statements to U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke, 13 detainees urged her to let them continue their deportation proceedings from home because “death and/or permanent harm is imminent” due to serious underlying medical conditions. More detainees are expected to file requests this month.
Read the full story here.
Florida passes 500,000 mark as the state adds more than 5,400 new coronavirus cases
11:45 a.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed 5,409 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s known total past 500,000. The state now has 502,739 confirmed cases.
There were also 225 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the statewide resident death toll to 7,627. There were no new non-resident deaths, leaving the non-resident death toll at 124.
Woman asked for compassionate release. The warden refused. She just died of COVID-19
11:40 a.m.: Tressa Clements pressed her hand to the ICU window and spoke through her tears.
“Baby girl, I pray to God you would wake up,” she said to her child, lashed to a ventilator. “I want you to wake up.”
That was Sunday evening — the penultimate day of Saferia Johnson’s life. Johnson, an inmate at the women’s work camp at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County, died the next morning, just after 10.
The cause: COVID-19. She was 36.
Johnson, a non-violent inmate with two young sons, had petitioned the prison for compassionate release. The warden had rejected the request.
Read the full story here.
He had a ‘heart of gold’: Florida corrections officer is second to die of COVID-19
10:20 a.m.: Just days after the first corrections officer in Florida prisons died of COVID-19, a second officer died of the highly infectious disease, which has infected 9,180 inmates and 1,810 officers across the state prison system. Fifty-four inmates have died.
Joseph “Joe” Foster, was remembered by family and friends as a devoted husband, father and proud U.S. Army veteran. He was hired by the state Department of Corrections in December 2009.
“We called him ‘the enforcer’ because he always took care of everybody,” said Cory Surles, a friend of Foster’s who served alongside him in Germany from 1997 to 1998. Surles confirmed that Foster died Monday night.
Surles said Foster, who had a wife of 15 years, two sons and a daughter, was a “family guy” who had a “heart of gold.”
Read the full story here.
Miami-Dade tries to end CARES fight with cities with $100 million in COVID help
10 a.m.: Miami-Dade is nearly tripling a planned allocation of federal CARES Act money for local cities in an effort to defuse a public, bitter fight over the dollars that went to the county but not municipalities.
County commissioners on Tuesday voted to reserve $100 million for city expenses and relief programs from the $474 million Miami-Dade received from Florida through the federal legislation passed in March. The administration of Mayor Carlos Gimenez had previously proposed giving $30 million to cities.
“I want to see if we can put this county-and-city issue to bed as soon as possible,” Commissioner Dennis Moss said after introducing the package, which passed unanimously.
Read the full story here.
No power boat races in Key West this year. But the holiday parade could still happen
9:30 a.m.: The annual power boat races in Key West won’t happen this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Race World Offshore said Tuesday evening in a Facebook post that the Key West races, which draw crowds on land and sea, are scratched for 2020.
But city leaders aren’t ready to give up on one special event: the island’s holiday parade, which as of Tuesday could still take place in December.
Read the full story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
9:20 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Wednesday begins.
▪ New COVID-19 cases in Florida drops to fewer than 8,000 for third straight day
▪ Is it time to allow visitors in Florida nursing homes? DeSantis restarts conversation
▪ MLS tournament bubble is working: 9,235 tests since July 12, zero positives
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on August 5."
