Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on August 6
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.
How tax-free weekend for back-to-school supplies will look different during COVID pandemic
5 p.m.: In case you missed it, Florida’s annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday begins Friday and runs through Sunday. This break on taxes for school supplies will continue as planned, even if school is going to look different for most children, teachers and parents in South Florida at the start of the school year due to the coronavirus crisis.
What you can expect, read here.
As legal battle over school reopening proceeds, DeSantis stresses importance of sports
4:30 p.m.: Flanked by coaches, athletes and politicians, Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday used sports to emphasize his support of school reopenings.
DeSantis called the extracurricular activities “critical” for maintaining discipline and achieving college scholarships. Without them, he said, students will face “huge effects.”
At a press conference at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, DeSantis drew on his experience as a competitive baseball player and eventual college athlete at Yale University, recalling the sense of self-purpose learned as a student athlete.
“These are moments they are not going to get back,” he said. “I am standing with our coaches and our athletes. This is something critical.”
Read the story here.
COVID is not taking a toll on real estate deals. Home sales are up in South Florida
3:10 p.m.: The South Florida housing market is finally getting its time in the sun after months of weathering a storm. And condos, not just single-family homes, are feeling the warmth.
Broward and Miami-Dade saw 45% to 50% growth in year-over-year condo and single-family home sales, according to the Douglas Elliman July 2020 report. The percentage of new listings in some areas trailed behind in comparison to July 2019 while growing in others.
Read the story here.
Volunteers line up for COVID-19 vaccine trials in Florida and across the U.S.
3 p.m.: There is much interest in pivotal, late-stage clinical trials of the first two COVID vaccine candidates in the United States, Kaiser Health News reports.
Those trials began rolling out July 27. During the next two months, vaccine makers hope to recruit 60,000 Americans to roll up their sleeves to test the two vaccines, one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, a German company, and the other by biotech startup Moderna. While small tests earlier this year showed the preventives were safe and led to participants developing antibodies against the virus, the final phase 3 testing is designed to prove whether the vaccine reduces the risk of infection.
Amid a pandemic that in the U.S. has caused roughly 5 million infections and nearly 160,000 deaths while decimating the economy, the vaccine trials have drawn far more interest than is typical for a clinical trial, organizers said.
Read the story here.
Appointments for antigen tests
1:30 p.m.: TourHealth, a rapid and secure COVID-19 testing solution offered by the
State of Florida, requires appointments for antigen tests at Marlins Park in Miami. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens doesn’t require appointments, but TourHealth recommends making one, anyway.
Residents can visit www.TourHealth.com to schedule an appointment through the mobile platform Gov2Go.
Testing is available starting at 8:30 a.m. at Marlins Park and 9 a.m. at Hard Rock Stadium, both daily, until supplies for the day run out. TourHealth will provide 625 tests per day at each location for a total of 1,250 tests daily.
COVID calls and dog leashes
12:35 p.m.: Fire Rescue calls, which are a fairly telling leading indicator, dropped to a low not seen since early June on Wednesday.
In Miami-Dade the total number of COVID positive patients in county hospitals continues to drift down, dropping to 1,821 (down by 42 compared to Wednesday). Patients admitted to ICUs was also down 14 to 489. Discharges (215) outpaced new patients (128).
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez also amended an emergency order on Thursday that required dog owners to leash their dogs at dog parks during the coronavirus pandemic. Dog owners can now unleash their dogs inside dog parks in Miami-Dade County.
Olive Garden is a No. 1 restaurant in COVID crisis, survey says. But not in Florida
12:25 p.m.: Since the spring, when COVID-19 shut restaurants and reopened some with restrictions, a new survey on casual dining by Top Data found that casual dining places like Applebee’s, Chili’s and Olive Garden and chain steakhouses like Texas Roadhouse dominated America’s return to well-known sit down restaurants.
But Florida went for Outback Steakhouse. Top Data listed the five most popular choices in Florida.
Read the story here.
Florida COVID cases now past 510,000 as the state sees 7,650 new infections
11:15 a.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 7,650 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s known total to 510,389. There were also 120 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the statewide resident death toll to 7,747.
Read the story here.
No hurricanes in sight: Here’s what’s open and what’s closed this weekend in Miami
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9:30 a.m.: Here’s a list of things you can do the weekend of August 7-9 during the coronavirus pandemic in Miami Florida. Beaches have reopened after the hurricane threat and wearing masks is still mandatory in Miami-Dade.
Read the story here.
As Florida nursing home residents died, operators raked in federal handouts
9:10 a.m.: Nursing homes, which rely almost exclusively on state and federal payments from Medicaid and Medicare, are heavy political spenders and not shy about flexing that political muscle. As COVID-19 has led to more than 150,000 cases and more than 40,000 deaths nationwide in nursing homes, owners have pushed for immunity from lawsuits stemming from their handling of the virus. That is despite the fact that problems at some homes predate the virus and that industry inside.
Read the story here.
Podcast: Six things we’re interested in as Miami starts camp. And the latest with COVID-19
8:40 a.m.: The COVID-19 pandemic has college football season in flux, but the Miami Hurricanes will still start their preseason training camp Friday in Coral Gables.
To celebrate, we try to go the whole first half of the latest episode of the Eye on the U podcast without talking about the coronavirus. Instead, Miami Herald sports writers David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan each picks three things they’re most interested in as Miami prepares to begin real practices this weekend at Greentree Practice Field.
Read the story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
8:20 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Thursday begins.
▪ Florida passes 500,000 mark as the state adds more than 5,400 new coronavirus cases.
▪ Industry cancels U.S. cruises until Oct. 31, one month after CDC ban expires.
▪ Universal Orlando trying to lure Florida guests with a deal for unlimited visits.
▪ ‘You now have the coronavirus,’ Florida man tells boy to his face as the spit flies
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 9:08 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on August 6."
