Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on October 13
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.
‘With Donald Trump it’s simple: You’re expendable.’ Biden rips POTUS in seniors event
6:15 p.m.: With Florida Democrats voting by mail at a record pace, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden dove into deep blue Broward County Tuesday in the hope of expanding his pre-Election Day lead over President Donald Trump.
Biden began his afternoon with a speech in Pembroke Pines designed to undercut Trump among senior voters by ripping his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. From there, he planned to hold a get-out-the-vote rally in Miramar as part of a national effort by his campaign and the Democratic National Committee to encourage voters to make a plan to vote.
“Donald Trump’s chaotic and divisive leadership has cost us far too much: 216,000 dead from COVID-19 and rising,“ Biden told an intentionally small crowd of seniors and Democratic activists at the Southwest Focal Point Community Center in Pembroke Pines.
Read the full story here.
Trump, Pence to blanket Miami Thursday on day of canceled debate with Biden
4:45 p.m.: Thursday was supposed to be the day that President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden met in Miami for the second presidential debate.
Instead, it will be the day the Trump campaign blanketed Miami.
With the Oct. 15 debate canceled over a logistical dispute, Trump’s campaign announced Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence will hold two Miami events on that date. Pence is scheduled to hold a midmorning campaign rally at the Memorial Cubano in Tamiami Park near Florida International University’s West Miami-Dade campus. Pence will also hold a faith-based campaign event at the Lubavitch Educational Center in North Miami-Dade.
Pence won’t be in Miami alone.
Trump is also heading to Miami-Dade County Thursday evening, according to Miami Beach Police. The department issued an advisory on Twitter Tuesday announcing that a visit by the president outside of the city would force the closure of the entire MacArthur Causeway from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Read the full story here.
Former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden to return home after COVID-19 bout
3:30 p.m.: Legendary Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden is improving and set to return home from the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19, according to multiple reports.
Bowden, who turns 91 next month, told the Tallahassee Democrat last week he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which has caused a global pandemic this year, and was in the hospital for treatment.
“I am sure [God] answered a prayer,” Bowden said about how he was feeling this week, according to the news outlet. “I do feel better. I am doing good. I appreciate everyone’s thought.”
Read the full story here.
Miami’s 24-hour club is still closed, but you can get lit at home with its new vodka
2:30 p.m.: Remember going out? Twerking the night away until dawn? Rubbing shoulders with strangers in dark clubs with throbbing music and pulsating lights?
We’ll wait.
While Miami nightlife isn’t quite how you remember it these days (limited capacity, face masks, constant hand sanitizing, keeping your distance), you can still remember the days of pre-pandemic yore with a new booze that just hit shelves.
Introducing ... E11EVEN Vodka, named after the six- year-old, erstwhile dancetastic 24/7 so-called ultraclub that’s been a magnet for such VIP partiers as Leonardo DiCaprio, Travis Scott, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Rob Gronkowski and the Hadid sibs.
Florida Memorial suspends three coaches, including Ice Harris, and a fourth resigns
2 p.m.: The Florida Memorial University athletic department is in a state of upheaval following an uptick in COVID-19 cases earlier this month.
The university has postponed all sporting events since Oct. 13 because of COVID-related issues, and four coaches have either been suspended or resigned, including Timothy “Ice” Harris, according to a recording given to the Miami Herald.
Known as “Ice,” Harris is a legendary high school football coach in Miami-Dade County, going 114-21 overall and winning three state titles with Miami Booker T. Washington. He also two stints on staff with the Miami Hurricanes. He is in his first season at Florida Memorial, which is playing football for the first time since 1958.
Read the full story here.
Coronavirus survives on phone screen, cash and other surfaces for 28 days, study says
12:50 p.m.: A new study out of Australia found that the coronavirus can survive on common surfaces such as money, phone screens and stainless steel for about a month in room temperature conditions — a time frame that surpasses those from other studies.
The coronavirus was also found to last 10 days longer on some surfaces than influenza, the virus that causes the seasonal flu.
Researchers from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, said their findings add more evidence to the importance of washing your hands and properly disinfecting surfaces to prevent further spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The study was published Oct. 7 in the Virology Journal.
Learn more here.
Florida adds 2,725 COVID-19 cases, and more than 100 new deaths push toll past 15,500
12:30 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 2,725 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 738,749. Also, 119 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 15,531.
Four new non-resident deaths were announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 191, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
COVID-19 upended Medicare, from expanding teleheath to draining its funds. Here’s how
11:30 a.m.: As the Medicare system scrambled to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected older, medically fragile Americans, some of its own financial vulnerabilities were laid bare.
The latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office show that the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, which funds hospitalizations, will be insolvent by 2024, two years earlier than a CBO projection made in May before the effects of the pandemic were factored in.
At the same time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services took a number of steps to provide better care for seniors during the pandemic, including increasing access to telehealth services as well as providing more plan choices for those living in rural areas. CMS Administrator Seema Verma called the changes “a godsend to patients and providers,” allowing “people to be treated in the safety of their home.”
Read the full story here.
Miami Marathon canceled for first time in history. Next one: January 2022
10:30 a.m.: In 2020, the Life Time Miami Marathon and Half Marathon was pushed back two weeks to prevent interfering with the Super Bowl. But at least it was run.
There will be no 2021 Miami Marathon.
The Miami Herald learned Monday that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers have canceled what was to be the next Miami Marathon, originally scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 31. That includes the entire slate of weekend events which encompass the marathon, half marathon, 5K and marathon health & fitness expo.
Read the full story here.
Trump returns to the campaign trail in Florida after COVID
10 a.m.: Hospitalized and knocked from the trail for more than a week by the coronavirus, an exuberant President Donald Trump returned to campaigning Monday in Central Florida as if little had changed.
He did not wear a mask. He railed against Democratic nominee Joe Biden in must-win Florida. He cast himself as now immune against COVID-19.
“I went through it. Now they say I’m immune. I feel so powerful. I’ll walk in there. I’ll kiss everyone in that audience. I’ll kiss the guys and the beautiful women,” he told a cheering audience of thousands at an airport rally.
Read the full story here.
Miami-Dade’s COVID curfew officially moves to midnight
9:30 a.m.: Miami-Dade’s COVID-19 curfew, now in its fourth month, has officially moved to midnight, shaving an hour off the time when residents must be off the streets in most circumstances.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced the pending change Friday but held out the possibility of reversing course over the weekend if the county’s COVID-19 statistics turned sharply worse. That didn’t happen, and Gimenez’s office posted the final order that shifted the countywide curfew from 11 p.m. to midnight on Monday.
There are exceptions for people delivering food and other items, and workers traveling to businesses considered essential in the order, including media, healthcare workers and utility crews. There’s also a blanket exemption for people going to or from religious services and major sports events, a waiver first imposed to accommodate the Miami Hurricanes’ season opener at Hard Rock Stadium. There’s also an exemption for anyone walking a dog within 250 feet of their home.
Read the full story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
9:30 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 adds 1,533 coronavirus cases, and 48 new deaths push toll past 15,400
▪ Here’s where stimulus talks stand after Trump administration’s $1.8 trillion proposal
▪ Losing your sense of smell from COVID can trigger negative moods
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 9:48 AM.
