Death of Levine Cava’s father a sad reminder that masks, vaccines are ‘acts of kindness’ | Editorial

Condolences are in order for Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, whose father, Paul Levine, died Thursday at 87.

What took his life is tragically familiar at this point: Levine Cava announced that her father died of complications from COVID-19. Less typical, however, is that she says he was fully vaccinated. Generally, the delta variant that is spreading through the region, the state — the country — has made far fewer vaccinated people severely ill, striking — and killing — instead younger, mostly unvaccinated residents.

The mayor humbly acknowledged that again, COVID hit home — this time, her home — and for the second time. Levine Cava herself had the coronavirus.

“We are just one more family affected by COVID.”

Levine Cava said that her father suffered from dementia, but otherwise was in good health. He lived at The Palace Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, a respected, five-star senior-living complex in Kendall, and often refused to wear a protective mask. He became ill more than a week ago and was admitted to Baptist hospital, where he eventually died. And like so many other Floridians with elderly loved ones in hospitals or other facilities, Levine’s family was unable to be with him.

“We saw him through the glass door of his room,” Levine Cava said. “We were not allowed to go in.”

This is just one more curse of this highly contagious virus.

At first, the family didn’t suspect COVID, the mayor said, since staffers who were both vaccinated and masked. Still, his family suspects Levine may have contracted the virus from an asymptomatic healthcare worker who had COVID, perhaps unknowingly, as well. At this point, this is the family’s assumption.

However, the sad reality statewide is that many healthcare workers remain unvaccinated and, therefore, a threat to their patients and others if not masked and regularly tested. In fact, President Biden wisely announced a vaccine mandate for all nursing-home workers, requiring that they must be vaccinated as a condition for facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

“If you visit, live or work in a nursing home, you should not be at a high risk for contracting COVID from unvaccinated employees,” Biden said in August.

It’s a case that the Editorial Board has made time and again.

As we approach 50,000 deaths in Florida, we urge hope members of this community to take their message to heart: Getting vaccinated is an act of kindness toward others.

This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 5:27 PM.