Broward County enters ‘Level 2’ state of emergency to fight novel coronavirus
By David Smiley and
Michelle Marchante
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Broward County commissioners have declared a Level 2 state of emergency Tuesday after a fourth person tested positive for COVID-19 in the county.
“We’re very much aware” of the limited supplies, County Administrator Bertha Henry told commissioners during a meeting. “And we know where our ground zero is.”
The decision was made shortly before noon, just a few hours after health officials announced that a 69-year-old woman had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The decision activates the Emergency Operations Center in Plantation, according to Local 10. There are three levels of activation. Level 2 involves a partial activation of emergency functions, including the center where decisions are made on emergency responses, according to Broward.org
HAPPENING NOW: - Broward County declares State Of Emergency re: coronavirus. - EOC in Plantation being activated - level 2 ... that’s a partial activation. - PSA/ Do Not Touch campaign funding also approved. @WPLGLocal10pic.twitter.com/303kJFA8I8
As of Tuesday, three of the four cases are associated with Port Everglades, where administrators say they have only enough deep cleaning supplies to last about the next four weeks and have been told by their vendor that new supplies won’t be ready until May 6.
Commissioners also voted to allow Henry to make unilateral decisions on contracts and other issues should a coronavirus outbreak prevent them from meeting in-person, with the expectation that those decisions would need to be later ratified by the commission. And they directed the county to launch a public service announcement TV campaign to inform people about useful precautions to avoid infection.
David Smiley is the Miami Herald’s assistant managing editor for news and politics, overseeing the Herald’s coverage of the Trump White House, Florida Capitol, the Americas and local government. A graduate of Florida International University, he reported for the Herald on crime, government and politics in the best news town in the country for 15 years before becoming an editor.
Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription
