Florida’s most populous county instituted an overnight curfew, and beaches and businesses began to close again as the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations increased in the state. The grim trend threatened further spread during the festive weekend of July 4.
“Right now, we are heading a million miles an hour in the wrong direction,” Dr. Aileen Marty told David Begnaud, senior national correspondent for “CBS This Morning.” Marty is an infectious disease expert who helped Miami-Dade write her reopening rules, but says there aren’t enough people to follow them.
“It is absolutely the saddest, most unnecessary situation we find ourselves in,” said Dr. Marty. “And it’s driven by behavior.”
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez said the curfew from 10 pm to 6 am begins Friday and will be in effect indefinitely. The order closes casinos, strip clubs, movie theaters, and other entertainment venues a month after they were allowed to reopen.
“This curfew is aimed at preventing people from venturing out and hanging out with friends in groups, which has shown that it is spreading the virus rapidly,” Giménez said in a statement.
On Friday, Florida reported 9,488 new confirmed cases and 67 deaths, a day after setting a new daily record with more than 10,000 cases.
Lynne Sladky / AP
The state health department’s hospitalization count was highest Friday with 341 new admissions in Florida, one of the largest daily jumps since the pandemic began. Giménez cited the shortage of staff at local hospitals when announcing the curfew.
“I met with our medical experts this afternoon to discuss what other steps we can take to stop the spread of the virus infection and ensure that our hospitals have sufficient capacity,” he said Thursday. “Right now, we have a lot of beds, but some hospitals are experiencing staffing shortages.”
The mayor’s order also tightens mask rules in restaurants, requiring customers to wear face coats at all times unless they eat or drink. Under the previous order, customers were allowed to remove the masks when they sat down.
Last week, officials in Miami-Dade and other counties, including the Florida Keys, announced that the beaches would remain closed for the long weekend of July 4.
Giménez said Miami-Dade police will review businesses over the holiday weekend to enforce mask and capacity rules, and will close establishments in violation.
“I don’t want to close all but the essential businesses again, but the only way to avoid it is for everyone to take COVID-19 seriously,” Giménez said in a statement. “That means every generation, every one of us, no exceptions.”
The latest county statistics show more than 1,300 COVID patients in Miami hospitals. Of these, 281 are in intensive care beds, occupying approximately 63% of ICU beds that would otherwise be available.
The state health department publishes a running daily count of new hospitalizations of people who test positive for the virus, but does not provide a statewide number of patients with COVID-19 currently in hospitals, ICU beds, or ventilators. Ventilator use and ICU occupancy are key indicators of the severity of the outbreak because not everyone infected with the coronavirus develops severe symptoms.
The state publishes daily reports on available ICU beds, statewide, by county and by individual hospital, but those numbers do not include how many are occupied by patients with COVID-19.
Statewide, about 20 percent of ICU beds are currently available, although some hospitals have additional capacity that can be converted to ICU units if needed.
Meanwhile, a group of lawmakers urged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday to demand that Floridians wear masks. The group of 10 Democratic lawmakers includes State Representative Shevrin Jones, a South Florida lawmaker who announced Tuesday that he had been infected with the coronavirus.
They want the governor to make Floridians wear masks to cover their noses and mouths while they are in public spaces, indoors and outdoors, when social distancing is not possible. So far, the governor has resisted those calls, even when Texas Governor Greg Abbott, another Republican, moved to do so on Thursday.
“This is not a partisan issue; it is a life and death issue,” lawmakers said in a letter to DeSantis. “This small but important gesture will have great consequences for the common good.”
On Wednesday, Florida recorded the youngest death from the coronavirus: Daequan Wimberly, 11, who died after 12 days in hospital. His adoptive father, Pastor Jerry Wimberly, was hospitalized with the virus when Daequan died.
“No one could be with him because of the coronavirus,” Wimberly told Begnaud. “So the doctors and nurses were there, but the family couldn’t be there because of the coronavirus.”
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