Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on October 17
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.
Florida adds more than 4,000 new COVID-19 cases, the highest regular one-day total since August
5 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Saturday confirmed 4,044 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 752,481. Also, 87 resident deaths were announced, seven fewer than announced on Friday, bringing the resident death toll to 15,917.
Saturday is the third day this week that Florida reported more than 3,000 cases. It is also the highest single-day count reported since Aug. 22, when 4,311 cases were added, although there were two exceptions.
Read the story here.
Will COVID surge before the election in Florida? ‘Everybody wants to know the answer’
9 a.m.: Political campaigns in the nation’s preeminent battleground state are watching two sets of numbers as Election Day approaches: ballot returns and cases of the novel coronavirus.
As Floridians begin voting in person Monday — and a flurry of political rallies, sporting events and school re-openings bring scores of people together in one of the worst-hit states by the pandemic — both epidemiologists and candidates are bracing for the possibility of a pre-Election Day surge.
Read the story here.
Judge lets Tootsie’s strip club defy Miami-Dade COVID curfew, calling it illegal
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9:05 a.m.: A Miami-Dade judge ruled a local strip club can keep its dancers earning money past midnight and ignore the curfew imposed three months ago by Mayor Carlos Gimenez as a needed measure against the spread of COVID-19.
The win by Tootsie’s in Miami Gardens could doom the restrictions countywide, with the club’s lawyers say the ruling likely spells the end of the Gimenez-imposed curfew unless the county wins in its appeal.
Judge Beatrice Butchko issued an order Friday allowing Tootsie’s to operate all night, saying a statewide decree by Gov. Ron DeSantis limiting local COVID business restrictions left the county unable to keep the club closed overnight. While it allowed counties and cities to set capacity limits for restaurants, the governor’s Sept. 25 order prohibits local governments from issuing COVID rules that keep people from working.
Read the story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
8:50 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Saturday begins.
▪ Florida adds more than 3,000 COVID-19 cases again as resident death toll hits 15,830.
▪ COVID-19 cases creep up Miami-Dade schools and also Broward schools.
This story was originally published October 17, 2020 at 9:20 AM.
