Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
GRIM RECORD SMASHED
Local leaders scramble after Florida records nearly 9,000 virus cases in one day
Florida marked its worst day ever for the coronavirus — almost 9,000 new cases on Friday — and it pushed local leaders to ramp up restrictions on people whose risky behavior is contributing to the outbreak.
A return to stay-home orders remains off the table, but instead: Palm Beach
County is sending two reusable masks to every home in the county; the state immediately stopped bars from serving alcohol; Miami Beach called an emergency meeting to consider expanding its rules on masks and more; and Monroe County, home of the Florida Keys, began requiring everyone over age 6 to wear a facial covering whenever away from home and not social distancing.
Fort Lauderdale is vowing to crack down on businesses flouting capacity limits.
“Should that not be successful we have no other choice but to revisit stay-athome protocols, which is the only way we know to dampen the spread of the disease,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said. “All of the good things we’ve done all this time is being undone.”
Florida has led the nation in new COVID-19 cases in recent days, and Friday’s count appeared to be one of the highest ever seen. Since the pandemic began, only New York State appears to have had more new confirmed cases than Florida in a day.
New York reported 11,571 cases on April 14, records show. California’s record was 7,149 cases, on Tuesday. Texas hit a record 5,996 cases on Thursday.
Facing criticism for Florida’s surge of infections, from his political opponents and others, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday there is no reason to panic or consider returning to widespread business shutdowns.
He insisted that the best response is “consistent messaging” to residents, particularly younger adults, about protecting themselves and others with social distancing, practicing good hygiene, and following local rules such as those requiring facial coverings.
“A lot of this stuff is very simple. These are not earthshattering actions that need to be taken,” he said during a news conference at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers.
Friday’s record is a continuation of a trend of more infections among people under age 35, those who are unlikely to wind up with serious health issues, DeSantis explained, also pointing to a big “dump” of COVID-19 test results that contributed to the rising figures.
“Really nothing has changed in the past week,” DeSantis said.
Public health experts expressed concern that the virus is spreading out of control.
“It reflects uncontrolled transmission,” said Dr. Aileen M. Marty, professor of infectious diseases at Florida International University. “Too many people whose behavior is out of sync with the ‘new normal’ guidelines. It is dangerous for our health and for our economy.”
José Szapocznik, professor of public health sciences at University of Miami’s medical school, said reducing daily infections “is not rocket science. … It is up to us and our leaders to behave in ways that will reduce transmission.”
Palm Beach County’s move to distribute 1.3 million masks to households comes days after the county mandated masks be worn in public. Cities across the county were preparing to enforce the mandate. Violators can be fined up to $250 for the first violation and $500 for each additional violation.
“Wearing a mask is intended to protect yourself [and] others from your own germs,” said State Attorney Dave Aronberg, responding to protesters claiming their rights are being violated.
After watching the rising number of cases, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said, “we’re trying to see what’s left in the toolkit other than to shelter in place,” he said. “Shelter in place is … ruinous to the economy, but obviously if our healthcare system is threatened we’ll do it again. But hopefully we won’t get to that point.”
Gelber said the city might consider expanding its mask rules by creating civil enforcement and establishing fines.
“How do we enforce it has been the trick everywhere?” he said. “How do we inspire compliance, or force it? And that’s a difficult question.”
DeSantis said the surge of new cases, including 8,942 reported Friday, is nothing the state can’t handle. He cited an abundance of masks and protective gear for health care workers, available hospital beds, better medical treatments, and swabs used to test for COVID-19.
“We’re in a much better position to handle what might come down the pike,” he said.
Still, the state responded with what the governor called “major action” — an order for bars to stop serving alcohol statewide, a ban that had been lifted everywhere except South Florida. Officials have cited concerns about younger people disregarding social distancing guidelines and bars not complying with capacity limits.
The Florida Department of Health reported that 122,960 people have tested positive since the pandemic began. But the true number of cases may be significantly higher than what has been reported, according to Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Our best estimate right now is that for every case that was reported, there actually are 10 other infections,” Redfield said on a call with reporters Thursday. He explained that nationwide testing for antibodies shows that the rate of infection, including cases with no symptoms, is much higher than the confirmed number of diagnosed illnesses.
The last 10 days really illustrate the unprecedented rise of reported infections in Florida. From June 17 through Friday, the state added 42,851 cases. This includes the previous oneday record of 5,511 cases on Wednesday.
To put this in perspective, the state added only 7,444 cases — 17.4% as many — in the same period last month, from May 17 to May 26.
And that’s with close to the same number of people getting swabbed during those 10-day periods, about 300,000. The virus is spreading quickly and the percentage of positive cases each day is higher.
While the cases are soaring, the death rate continues to remain steady. At least 3,464 people have died from the new coronavirus in Florida, 41 more than on Thursday, reports show. That figure includes 98 people from outside the state. Experts say it’s inevitable that the number of COVID-19 deaths will rise this summer.
South Florida
In South Florida, the hardest-hit area in the state:
Broward County: 736 new cases were reported Friday, bringing the total to 13,320 to date. A total of 403 people have died, two more since Thursday.
Palm Beach County: 658 new cases were reported, bringing the total to 12,498. A total of 503 people have died, four more since Thursday.
Miami-Dade County: Florida’s hot spot saw 1,532 new cases, bringing the total to 30,196. A total of 961 people have died, which is 11 more than Thursday. Miami-Dade has 13% of the state’s population but 25.4% of the coronavirus cases and 27.7% of the deaths.
In Hollywood, the city issued an emergency order Thursday requiring that masks be worn outdoors, including the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk and all public areas.
The city’s requirement is more stringent than the Broward County restriction, which mandates masks be worn by food workers and people “obtaining any good or service,” such as in a store.
Mayor Josh Levy said Friday the change was needed due to the spike in numbers and to try to make sure people are “responsibly complying with the most basic measure of what prevents exposure.”
He said officials there are taking action to “preserve the ability for the economy to remain open and the openings to date be maintained.”
“We’re at a standstill now when it comes to reopening further,” Levy said. “To feel like we’re not forced to look backwards, we need to people to comply.”
Coral Springs Mayor Scott Brook said the city might call an emergency meeting early next week to “get input and see what else, if anything, we can do to stem the flow sooner than later.”
The record high cases, he said, “concern me.”
Rob Menendez, chef and co-owner of It’s a Cubano B in Pompano Beach, says he recently closed the dining room after seeing the virus numbers. He only feels comfortable slinging Cuban sandwiches and hamburgers for takeout and delivery.
“We can’t risk anyone’s safety right now,” Menendez said. “It could kill our restaurant being closed just as much as it kills us being open at half-capacity. But it’s the best choice. If customers weren’t worried about dining out before, they are now.”
Testing trends
The state Department of Health on Friday reported a total of 1.77 million people have been tested for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. About 6.9% of the tests have been positive.
The rate is higher in South Florida, where 9.1% of people tested have been diagnosed with the disease, according to the data. The region, home to 29% of Florida’s population, accounts for 45.6% of the cases, with a total of 56,014.
In the latest results, received by the state on Thursday and reported Friday, 18.5% of the 48,269 people swabbed statewide tested positive. That’s higher than Thursday’s report, when 9.5% of 52,372 tests were positive.
Four weeks ago, on May 29, 3.9% of the 30,839 tests reported that day were positive.
Deaths
Statewide: At least 3,464 people have died from the new coronavirus in Florida, 41 more than on Thursday, the state reported.
Residents: The death total includes 3,366 residents and 98 from outside the state.
Senior care: At least 1,772 of the state’s COVID-19 deaths (51.1%) have occurred in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. And, 12,624 cases have occurred among residents and staff.
Hospitalizations
Statewide: A total of 14,281 people have been treated in Florida hospitals for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, an increase of 213 people since Thursday. The number of available hospital beds has been declining in recent weeks, records show.
South Florida:
Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties have had 7,608 residents hospitalized, 99 more than 24 hours earlier.
Global view
U.S.: The coronavirus death toll in the United States reached 124,749 on Friday afternoon, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. has 2.4 million coronavirus cases, the most of any country in the world. At least 46,252 people have died in the national hot spots of New York and New Jersey.
Worldwide: Johns Hopkins also reported almost 9.7 million cases worldwide, with at least 491,595 people dead.
The United States has 4.3% of the world’s population and 25.3% of the world’s cases.