Curfews, closures imposed in Florida
Beds remain available; hospital staffing short
MIAMI — As coronavirus infections surge across Florida and hospital authorities count their available intensive care beds, the state’s most populous county is closing down again, imposing a curfew and closing beaches over the Fourth of July weekend to contain the spread.
Miami-dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew begins Friday night and will be in place indefinitely. A new county order also closes casinos, strip clubs, movie theaters, the zoo and other entertainment venues a month after they were allowed to reopen.
“This curfew is meant to stop people from venturing out and hanging out with friends in groups, which has shown to be spreading the virus rapidly,” Gimenez said in a statement.
Florida reported 341 new hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients on Friday, the biggest daily jump since the pandemic began. The state health department also reported 9,488 new confirmed cases and 67 deaths, a day after setting a new daily record with more than 10,000 cases.
The mayor’s order also tightens mask rules at restaurants, requiring customers to wear facial coverings at all times unless eating or drinking.
Other counties, including the Florida Keys, also closed beaches during the long holiday weekend. Gimenez said Miami-dade police will be checking businesses to enforce mask and capacity rules, and closing establishments in violation.
Young people are driving the surge, and risk infecting their parents and grandparents, who may be more at risk of severe illness, officials said.
Gimenez said beds remain available but some hospitals have staffing shortages. The county’s latest statistics showed more than 1,400 COVID patients in Miami hospitals, including 306 in intensive care, occupying about 73 percent of the ICU beds that would be otherwise available.
Miami’s largest hospital said it will begin restricting elective procedures on Monday. Two large medical networks in the Tampa Bay area also said they’ll limit non-emergency procedures at eight hospitals next week, since Pinellas County has just 10 percent of its ICU units available.
A group of 10 Democratic lawmakers urged Gov. Ron Desantis on Friday to mandate mask-wearing statewide. “This is not a partisan issue; this is an issue of life and death,” they wrote. In other developments:
Knox County and Shelby County
on Friday joined Nashville and Memphis in requiring people to wear face masks in many public settings to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The orders come as the virus cases continue to surge in Tennessee. The state recorded 1,822 new cases on Friday, a new one-day record. That tops the previous record of 1,806 set on Wednesday.
The Alabama Department of Public Health said it could not verify reports of so-called COVID-19 parties where students deliberately tried to become infected, but also warned people not to try it. Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya Mckinstry told news outlets this week that she heard of students holding parties and wagering over who would become infected. The department said it could not verify any parties where persons tried to contract COVID-19 but warned that it is a dangerous and sometimes deadly virus.
Kansas reported another big increase in confirmed coronavirus cases Friday, capping its worst two-week spike since the pandemic began and coming as a statewide mask mandate from the governor took effect. Gov. Laura Kelly issued an executive order Thursday requiring people to wear masks in public and in their workplaces because of a surge in cases, and it took effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday.