Miami-Dade’s Thanksgiving message: COVID is getting worse. Stay home or eat outside

Thanksgiving may bring the most large indoor gatherings Miami-Dade has seen during the coronavirus pandemic, and the county on Tuesday rolled out a familiar message to limit the damage: Consider staying home, avoid crowds inside and remember that eating outside is the safest route for meals.

“The numbers are increasing. It’s a rising concern for our county and for our cities,” said Dr. Peter Paige, a senior administrator at the county’s Jackson hospital system who also serves as the newly appointed chief medical officer for Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “We have to look for opportunities to try and minimize our risk of having holiday celebrations while still enjoying the company of family and friends.”

Paige and other county leaders laid out the three tiers of Thanksgiving safety as COVID spread accelerates. The safest approach is to stay home and celebrate without guests. If risking a dinner with guests outside the household, eating outdoors reduces the danger of COVID transmission while masks are off during meals.

It’s the traditional Thanksgiving gathering that presents the most hazards: multiple households convening inside for hours of maskless eating and drinking. For that celebration, the county has some tips: Have each household bring its own food and dishes to reduce risks from surface contamination, spread out and wear masks as often as possible.

“We’re focusing on precautions. We’re focusing on prevention,” Levine Cava said during the online press conference, her first since taking office on Nov. 17. She hasn’t announced new measures to combat COVID-19 and extended the emergency orders in place when the term ended for her predecessor, Carlos Gimenez.

Alarm bells over Miami-Dade’s COVID spread

Alarm bells have been ringing all month over Miami-Dade’s coronavirus statistics, with case counts surging to a seven-day average of more than 1,800 daily cases in the state’s most populous county.

But even in comparison to other large counties, Miami-Dade has seen its caseload spike to about 68 daily cases per 100,000 people, well outpacing the still high 45 daily case average in Broward and 34 in Orange counties, according to epidemiologist Jason Salemi of the University of South Florida’s dashboard.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines “low incidence” as 10 daily cases per 100,000 people. Hospitalizations for severe COVID-19 illness have been rising slowly but steadily in tow behind the spiking cases, reaching 634 patients countywide on Monday morning.

With cases rising, Miami-Dade won’t take a break Thanksgiving on testing. State sites, including Marlins Park and Hard Rock Stadium, will close Thursday. All county-run sites, such as the Joseph Caleb Center, will remain open from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Location information is available at miamidade.gov/coronavirus.

For her debut COVID press conference, Levine Cava tapped city mayors, and academic and business organizations to be on the Zoom call as well. One theme was criticism of Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose statewide order from late September forced Miami-Dade to reopen bars and nightclubs and prevents local governments from collecting fines tied to emergency COVID orders.

“It’s great to be united here in Miami-Dade County,” said Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernández. “Hopefully our state government, our governor, will understand we believe in science. That science is the best way to keep our businesses open.”

Levine Cava hasn’t spoken to DeSantis yet

Like DeSantis, Hernández is a Republican. So is Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, who said Tuesday he’s been unable to get DeSantis on the phone to talk about allowing cities and counties to get tougher on mask mandates. “We don’t have all the tools in our tool box,” Suarez said. “I’m going to continue to reach out to Governor DeSantis and impress upon him the need for us to have that local control.”

The Sept. 25 DeSantis order on fines has all but stopped citations for Miami-Dade’s countywide mask mandate, though Miami Beach announced this week it would resume issuing tickets even if fine collections are on hold.

“Now is definitely not the time to let up,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said.

A week into her tenure as leader of Florida’s largest local government and the one managing the state’s most severe COVID hot spot, Levine Cava said she’s also been unable to connect with DeSantis. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on when DeSantis planned to connect with Levine Cava, a Democrat.

“I am looking forward to speaking to the governor,” Levine Cava said. “I look forward to his call.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 6:00 AM.