This post will be updated today, Thursday, June 18, and through the week with the latest information on COVID-19 in South Florida.
WLRN staff continues to add to community resource lists, including this article on where kids and families can get food while schools are closed, and this post about whether and where to get tested for coronavirus.
The dedicated website for the Florida Department of Health, including information about symptoms and numbers of cases, can be found here.
The dedicated website from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be found here.
To receive WLRN's coronavirus updates newsletter on Wednesdays and Saturdays, sign up here.
QUICK UPDATES
Florida's COVID-19 Cases Over 85,000, Up By 3,207
Updated Thursday at 11 a.m.
Florida's positive cases of COVID-19 was over 85,000, according to the latest numbers by the Florida Department of Health. As of Wednesday, there was a confirmed additional 3,207 cases of the coronavirus. Florida has a total of 85,926 confirmed positive cases.
Wednesday's update also included the announcement of 43 new deaths, increasing the statewide number to 3,061. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties make up 1,674 of those reported deaths. Monroe County's COVID-19 death count remains at 4.
-WLRN News
Coronavirus Outbreak In Miami VA Hospital
Updated Thursday at 8 a.m.
According to the Miami Herald, about 30 healthcare workers from the Miami VA hospital in downtown have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week. It is the largest outbreak there since the start of the pandemic.
The facility held an “infection control investigation” which resulted in 28 employees testing positive for the coronavirus. Employees are being quarantined at home, none have been hospitalized.
- WLRN News
Miami-Dade Mayor Warns Closing Businesses If Mask-Wearing Rules Not Followed
Updated Thursday at 7 a.m.
A month into his reopening plan for Miami-Dade’s economy , Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Wednesday cited worsening COVID-19 statistics and warned of “some people getting a little too comfortable about not wearing masks.”
In an afternoon video message, Gimenez warned that Miami-Dade would start closing businesses if they didn’t enforce emergency coronavirus rules requiring customers to wear masks.
He also speculated that two weeks of outdoor demonstrations against racial injustice were likely contributing to the rising infection rate in Florida’s largest county.
To read more, visit our news partner at the Miami Herald.
- Douglas Hanks/Miami Herald
More Than 75 Percent Of Adult ICU Beds Occupied
Updated Thursday at 7 a.m.
Fewer than one in four hospital adult intensive-care unit beds statewide are empty, according to data updated Wednesday by the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
Florida had 6,006 adult ICU beds as of Wednesday, with 1,409 available. The issue has drawn attention as hospitals treat patients with COVID-19, which is particularly dangerous to seniors and can require treatment in intensive-care units.
The availability of adult ICU beds varies by county. Rural Jackson County, for example, has only six adult ICU beds, and five were available Wednesday.
In COVID-19 hotspot areas, Palm Beach County had 73 of its 406 adult ICU beds available, meaning that 82 percent were occupied. Miami-Dade County had 980 adult ICU beds, with 240 of them, or about 24 percent, available.
It was a similar story in neighboring Broward County, where 24 percent of the 478 ICU beds were available. Rates were lower in some other large urban counties, including in Pinellas County, where 15 percent of the 326 beds were open.
- News Service of Florida
