DeSantis tells southeast Florida: Stay at home
■ Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered residents of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties to follow safer-at-home rules. The region accounts for almost 60% of Florida’s positive test results for the new coronavirus.
Gov. Ron DeSantis insisted Monday that South Florida remain the focus of the state’s toughest restrictions on commerce and recreation by issuing a multi-county order targeting residents from Palm Beach to Key West and then fumbling on how long those rules would last.
Under pressure to issue more statewide restrictions to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, DeSantis used appearances in Miami Gardens and Palm Beach to tout his strategy of focusing on the region with the most discovered cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
“This codifies a common set of rules regarding ‘safer at home’ in southeast Florida,” he said. “It gets all four counties operating under the same sheet of music.”
The DeSantis order requires Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties to conform to Miami-Dade’s existing closure rules for non-essential businesses. That’s not a significant change for the region, since DeSantis last week ordered closures of nonessential businesses in
some awesome news to share with you,” Suarez said on a video posted on Twitter, addressing the camera from his backyard. “I finally got my results back. My second results came back negative. So I can officially leave quarantine.”
Suarez was MiamiDade’s first publicly identified case of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, when he revealed his positive results on March 13, the day after he began self-isolation at his home. At the time, state health authorities had only disclosed one other MiamiDade case, and that person’s identity remained a secret.
As the first prominent mayor known to catch COVID-19, Suarez gained a national following as he posted Instagram videos about his mild symptoms and fielded interviews on The View, Rachel Maddow and other news shows. He was tested after a March 9 reception in Miami with Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro.
An aide to Bolsonaro later tested positive for COVID-19, sparking coronavirus scares that briefly included President Donald Trump, who was with Bolsonaro the prior weekend.
Carlos Gimenez, MiamiDade’s mayor, entered two weeks of self-isolation at the start of the county’s coronavirus crisis, heading home hours after a countywide emergency declaration took effect March 12. Gimenez attended the same reception as Suarez, but tested negative for the virus.
Suarez’s positive diagnosis set off a string of testing by Miami, with a state lab processing the results, at a time when residents were struggling to be approved for rationed testing kits. Miami tested dozens of elected officials and administrators who came in contact with Suarez, including wives of city commissioners. The city cited “continuity of government” in justifying the blanket testing.
In his video, Suarez said his wife and children were on their way over “to give me a big hug and a kiss.” Then he announced a Tuesday morning press conference with more details on his testing.
In an interview, Suarez said his first stop outside his house was a brief bike ride with his children. He said he’s planning to head to the Paramount residential tower tonight for a display on the building’s digital screen synced with a new Pitbull song titled “I Believe We Will Win.”
The event coincides with the 10 p.m. arrival of the city’s nightly curfew, approved at a special commission meeting called by Suarez last week and conducted using video technology.
“My message is I believe we can beat it,” Suarez said in the interview. “I just beat it today. I believe we can beat it if we come together, follow the medical advice, and discipline ourselves.”