COVID-19 COULD BE CONTRIBUTING TO WEST NILE OUTBREAK

COVID-19 isn’t the only outbreak happening in South Florida. On Friday, the Florida Department of Health reported 10 new cases of West Nile virus in Miami-Dade County, more than doubling the county’s yearly caseload to 14. County Miami News mosquito-control chief William Petrie speculates the coronavirus pandemic is contributing to the outbreak because the safety precautions have altered daily life so severely.

“People have been home for the past three months,” Petrie said. “Out in the backyard more often perhaps. On the balcony. It’s speculation on my part. That could be playing into it.”

PANTHERS’ CAPTAIN SAYS TEAM EMBRACING UNUSUAL RESTART PLAN

5:45 p.m.: Every major professional sports league in the United States is attempting MiamiBusiness News to make their comebacks under less-than-ideal circumstances. The Florida Panthers are excited about just getting the opportunity to return to the ice, though.

Center Aleksander Barkov, the team captain, said Thursday his teammates “can’t wait” to resume the season at a yet-to-be-announced hub location, even though they will be effectively living in a “bubble.”

“For me, I don’t really need to go anywhere and I think we’re the same way, our players,” Barkov said. “We talk a lot in the group chat. Most of the guys, they can’t wait.”

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talks during events at NBA All-Star weekend on February 15, 2020, at the United Center in Chicago. Chris Sweda TNS

NBA RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT INCREASING COVID-19 CASES IN FLORIDA

4:50 p.m.: In July, the NBA plans to have 24 of its teams, including the Miami Political News Miami Heat, descend upon Central Florida to close out the regular season and crown a champion. Rapidly increasing confirmed cases of COVID-19, however, are causing the league some concern.

Although the league fully expects to crown a champion in October, commissioner Adam Silver could not definitively assure that there won’t be another stoppage because of the uncertainty of the virus, particularly because of increasing case counts in Florida and across the entire country. As a counter measure, the NBA plans to test players daily while they’re closing out the season at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

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Miami Marlins shortstop Jon Berti (55) is congratulate by after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a Major League Baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds at Marlins Park in Miami on Thursday, August 29, 2019. DAVID SANTIAGO DSANTIAGO@MIAMIHERALD.COM

MLB PUTS IN PLACE 100-PAGE OPERATIONS MANUAL FOR COVID RESTART

4:10 p.m.: The long-delayed start Miami Press Release of the MLB season is now less than a month away and the league has a manual spanning more than 100 pages to hopefully pull off the 60-game season.

The list of limitations is wide-range. High fives and spitting are banned. Pitchers will use a wet rag instead of licking their fingers. It also hits on topics like COVID-19 testing and isolation protocols for if — almost certainly when — a player tests positive.

“It’s about being as correct as you can be,” said Dr. Lee Kaplan, the Miami Press Release Distribution Service Marlins’ team medical director. “And when it’s not correct, you correct it, you overcorrect and you stay nimble.”

TRUMP’S PUSH TO END ACA AMID PANDEMIC COULD ROIL MIAMI POLITICS

3:40 p.m.: A renewed effort by the White House to overturn the Affordable Care Act is stirring campaign politics in battleground Florida, a must-win state for President Donald Trump which is home to nearly 2 million Obamacare consumers — most in the nation.

Miami Rep. Donna Shalala, a former Health and Human Services secretary under former President Bill Clinton, called the effort “immoral.” She said there are 100,000 people in her district alone relying on Obamacare. No county in the U.S. has more people signed up for 2020 Obamacare coverage than Miami-Dade’s 457,000, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which manages the federal insurance exchange at healthcare.gov.

“The idea in the middle of COVID-19 to eliminate health insurance from 100,000 people in my district is a new disaster,” Shalala said, noting Florida hasn’t expanded Medicaid, leaving more than 400,000 Floridians currently uninsured. “It would create a huge gap. More importantly just think of individual people who suddenly lose their health insurance, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic.”

KEY WEST TIGHTENS COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS

3:10 p.m.: As COVID-19 cases increase across the state, Key West is taking new measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The city’s annual Independence Day fireworks display is off after the Key West City Commission unanimously voted to cancel the annual show, although beaches will remain open on the holiday.

The commissioners also tightened up the city’s mandatory mask law, making it punishable either by citation or a $500 fine.

PINECREST SYNAGOGUE PIVOTS TO DRIVE-IN SERVICES

2:40 p.m.: With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and services over video chat feeling stale, a synagogue in Pinecrest is trying out drive-in shabbat services.

This weekend, Bet Shira Congregation will host a series of drive-in services in the synagogue’s parking lot with a rabbi standing on a stage 20 feet away from the nearest car.

EXPERTS SAY FLORIDA’S WINDOW TO ACT ON VIRUS IS CLOSING

2:10 p.m.: The jump to nearly 9,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday had been coming for days and even weeks. The explosive spread Miami Press Release Distribution of the coronavirus in Florida and other states is much wider than the rising number of cases indicate, the nation’s top public health officials said Thursday — the same day that the United States saw the highest single day of new cases, more than 37,000. Public health experts warned that now is the time for state and local governments to slow reopening efforts before the only option left is another shutdown of the economy.

As new COVID-19 cases soar and hospital admissions rise in response, public health experts say they are concerned state officials are making policy decisions based on test data that reflects infections that occurred weeks ago.

On Friday, state governments finally took action after Florida announced a record of new cases. Texas and Florida both suspended the consumption of alcohol at bars statewide, and Texas rolled back restaurants to a limited 50-percent capacity.

COVID-19 CAUSES 31.7 PERCENT DIP IN FLORIDA SALES TAX REVENUE

1:40 p.m.: Florida’s sales tax revenue came in 31.7 percent below projections in May, state economists announced Monday as Gov. Ron DeSantis prepares to Miami Sports News make deep cuts to the state budget for the next fiscal year.

Collections were $695.4 million below their estimates, made in January before COVID-19 sent the state’s tourism-driven economy into a tailspin. All sectors of the economy besides building-related industries were hurt, state economists wrote.

DeSantis is preparing to make big cuts to the state’s $93.2 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which begins Wednesday. State lawmakers passed the budget in March, as the state started to see its first cases of COVID-19. Sales taxes are the biggest source of dollars for the state’s general revenue fund, which goes to schools, state agencies and other programs.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference on Friday, June 26, 2020, to give an update on Florida's efforts to combat the recent spike in coronavirus cases. BY THE FLORIDA CHANNEL

SOUTH FLORIDA STRIP CLUBS STILL OFFER LAPDANCES DURING PANDEMIC

1:10 p.m.: Yes, you can get a lapdance if you really want during the age of COVID-19. If you feel so inclined to pop in to one of a handful of strip clubs which have reopened in South Florida, this service is currently being offered.

Miami-Dade County deputy mayor Jennifer Moon said the dancers must suit up accordingly, as in wear proper Miami Cryptocurrency News personal protective equipment, such as a mask or facial shield, as well as gloves. Clients must wear masks as well. The guidelines for a lap dance are the same ones applied to getting a massage, Moon said.

You probably won’t be able to get alcohol while you’re at the strip club, though. On Friday, the Florida Department of Business and Regulatory Affairs suspended alcohol consumption at bars statewide.

FEMALE INMATES AT HOMESTEAD PRISON DIE OF COVID-19

12:40 p.m.: The first two female deaths from COVID-19 in Florida’s prisons occurred Thursday at Homestead Correctional Institution, according to friends, family and an advocate for female inmates.

Tyra Williams was 41. Josefa Davila was 64. Their deaths bring the Miami Stock Market overall toll in the Florida prison system to 23 after 21 male inmates died from the coronavirus.

The Homestead prison has become a hotspot for the virus in the last month with nearly half of the approximately 660 inmates testing positive. As of Friday, 302 inmates and 34 staff had tested positive.

Source: 

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article243812207.html