Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on May 28

We’re keeping track of the latest news regarding the coronavirus in South Florida and around the state. Check back for updates throughout the day.

FLORIDA HEALTH AGENCY INVESTIGATING COVID-19 SPREAD AT HIALEAH ALF

5:50 p.m.: On a single day in the second week of May, two Hialeah assisted living facilities under the same ownership group — including one that has since been shut down by the state — each reported a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19. A resident of one of the facilities also had contracted the illness and had been transferred to a hospital.

About a week later, the virus had gotten into a third facility as well. By then, dozens of residents at the Salmo 23 Elder Care, Salmo 23 No. 2 LLC and Salmos 23 V LLC facilities, had come down with the illness. So had employees who worked at the Salmos facilities, clustered near each other about two miles north of the Miami International Airport.

On Friday last week, the state suspended Salmos 23 V’s license after inspectors reported that an employee who tested positive was screening other workers prior to them entering the facility while wearing no personal protective equipment. Health officials also observed crowding and a lack of mask wearing among residents inside the facility.

Read the full story here.

DO MIAMI-DADE STUDENTS NEED A GRADING CURVE AMID PANDEMIC?

4:50 p.m.: The school year will come to an unceremonious close on Wednesday for students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. But report cards may be on hold for just a little longer.

The school district is taking a close look at how students’ grades fared through the fourth academic quarter, held entirely online since the coronavirus outbreak shuttered schools March 13. Based on the results, there may or may not be a grading curve or other stopgaps to help out students.

Read the full story here.

FREE WALK-UP COVID-19 TESTING BACK IN KEY WEST

4:45 p.m.: Community Health of South Florida Inc. will again offer free walk-up testing in Key West, by appointment only, for the novel coranavirus.

The testing is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 30 and June 6 outside the Frederick Douglass Gym, 111 Olivia St.

Those who want to be tested must be residents of Monroe County and have identification. CHI requires people call first, 305-252-4820, or email them at KeysCovid19@chisouthfl.org to set an appointment.

They must also meet some of the following criteria:

▪ Recently traveled to any of the high-risk countries

▪ Been in contact with someone who has COVID-19

▪ Experiencing the following symptoms: fever, cough or shortness of breath

AN AUCTION THAT COULD MAKE YOU A BETTER COOK

3:30 p.m: Do you want to know the secret to Chef Adrianne’s fried chicken sandwich or Brad Kilgore’s soft egg? Are you curious about Antonio Bachour’s favorite dessert or what makes Jeremy Ford’s Stubborn Seed menu so special?

Ask Chefs Anything Miami is giving you a chance to find out in a Zoom session — for a good cause.

The group is raising money to feed the immigrant workforce in Miami, which has struggled financially during the coronavirus crisis. So Ask Chefs Anything has started an online auction, at which bidders can win a 30-minute Zoom session with local chefs.

The link for the auction site is www.32auctions.com/askchefsanythingmiami. You can bid until 8 p.m. May 31.

BROWARD COLLEGE PLANS TO DROP ATHLETICS AMID PANDEMIC

3:05 p.m.: Broward College is moving toward dropping athletics and a final decision could come next month.

The Fort Lauderdale four-year college, which competes at the highest level of junior college athletics, informed its staff Wednesday in a virtual athletic department meeting and then informed its athletes Thursday on a brief video conference call, baseball coach Gregg Bennis told the Miami Herald.

Bennis said he and a handful of other coaches plan to fight the college’s decision leading up to a scheduled vote by the Board of Trustees in June, but he is operating as if the program will be no more, contacting coaches at other schools to find homes for his players.

Read the full story here.

A KEY WEST GRADUATION ON JET SKIS

3 p.m.: Key West charter school students rode the waves to pick up their diplomas in a graduation ceremony held on the water this week.

In the age of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which requires social distancing and advises against gatherings of 10 or more, Somerset Island Prep came up with a uniquely Key West event. Dressed in caps, gowns and face coverings, 12 seniors jetted out one at a time on a personal watercraft to an anchored boat, where principal Tom Rompella handed each a diploma.

“During a jet ski graduation everyone’s going to get a little wet,” Rompella said. “You just don’t wear your good shoes.”

Read the full story here.

ARE DOLPHINS PLAYERS WORRIED ABOUT RETURNING TO PRACTICE DURING PANDEMIC?

2:50 p.m.: While the league and the union insist no plan is finalized, NFL players and coaches could return to team facilities as soon as next month. But just how eager will they be to return to a locker room, which is essentially one big petri dish?

The answer two Dolphins players gave Thursday? We are ready to get back to football — so long as the team and the league do what’s needed.

Read the full story here.

FLORIDA’S UPDATED CASE NUMBERS

12:40 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday morning confirmed 651 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total of known cases to hit and surpass 53,000. The state now has a total of 53,285 confirmed cases.

There were also 45 new deaths announced, raising the statewide toll to 2,364.

Read the full update on Florida’s case numbers here. The next update on Florida’s coronavirus numbers will come Friday morning.

COVID-19 Cases in Florida

FLORIDA WILL REPORT FIRST RESULTS OF ANTIBODY TESTING ON FRIDAY

12:30 p.m.: Florida will release numbers on Friday of COVID-19 antibody tests performed at drive-thru sites in Miami Gardens, West Palm Beach, Orlando and Jacksonville, the governor’s office said, data that could offer one indicator of how widespread the disease has become.

“We will be posting on the [Department of Health] website and making publicly available state antibody testing results,” said Helen Aguirre Ferré, the spokeswoman for Gov. Ron DeSantis. “Going forward, you can expect this information every Friday on the website.”

Read the full story here.

A DRIVING TEST WITHOUT AN EXAMINER IN THE CAR BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC?

11:30 a.m.: Florida’s newest drivers still need to take behind-the-wheel tests to get licenses, but they should expect some changes in the way tests are conducted, at least while the coronavirus is still around.

In a memo this month, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said that as state offices reopen to the public in counties such as Miami-Dade and Broward, road tests will be conducted with examiners outside of the vehicles.

Examiners will use devices such as walkie-talkies or cell phones to dictate instructions to drivers, who will do road tests in a “closed course at the office,” Aaron Keller, an agency spokesman, told The News Service of Florida.

Read the full story here.

CHILDBIRTH IN THE AGE OF CORONAVIRUS

10:10 a.m.: Six-pound, 6-ounce Remy emerged healthy at 6:51 p.m. on May 14, but it was not the childbirth experience her parents had planned. Life for the human race had changed radically since their baby was conceived nine months ago. Coronavirus compounded the stress of having a newborn and muted the joy. The threat of infection, as omnipresent as air, created trepidation about raising a child in the brave new world of a killer pandemic that has taken more than 2,200 lives in Florida and 352,000 across the globe, with no cure in sight and guarantees of wretched contagions to come.

Read the full story here.

SOUTH FLORIDA RENTERS GETTING A BREAK DURING PANDEMIC?

10:05 a.m.: Landlords might finally be cutting multifamily renters a break in South Florida, with Zillow reporting decreased asking rents for new leases since the pandemic.

The average asking rents decreased year-over-year and month-to-month for multifamily units in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to the 2020 April Zillow Real Estate Market Report. Researchers studied rental listings in the Zillow database for 105 of the largest U.S. metro areas by population size. They found that 16 of them had lower rent growth when comparing March 2019 to March 2020 and April 2019 to April 2020.

The average rent in the Miami metro area was $1,881 in April 2020, said Skylar Olsen, senior principal economist at the Seattle-based real estate data and listing company Zillow. Rent grew by 2.6% over April 2019, a decline from the 2.9% rent growth that the metro area saw comparing March 2019 with March 2020.

Researchers also found a decline in rents in month-to-month data, Olsen said. The Miami metro area saw rent increase by 0.1% from March 2019 to April 2019, from an average of $1,832 to $1,833. But rent decreased by 0.3% from March 2020 to April 2020, from an average of $1,886 to $1,881.

Read the full story here.

MIAMI ZOOM COURT EXPANDS DESPITE LIMITATIONS

10 a.m.: As the novel coronavirus still lurks and officials hash out how to reopen physical courthouses — and resume jury trials — Miami-Dade’s justice system is still grappling with how best to use online platforms in a way that gives a fair shake to victims and defendants alike.

Despite the glitches and growing pains, Miami-Dade court officials have kept justice sputtering along. Last week, over trepidation from prosecutors, one judge began the county’s first Zoom probation-violation hearing — adding to a slew of self-defense hearings, bond hearings, arraignments, and plea deals already on the books.

Read the full story here.

PANDEMIC HAS CHANGED WHAT MIAMI’S BUYERS WANT IN A HOME

9:55 a.m.: Luxury home buyers are changing their wish lists after the pandemic. Some items are rising from the bottom of the list to the top.

The biggest trend? More buyers are shopping for single-family homes, said Hillary Hertzberg, sales-associate of the Jills Zeder Group. All residential sales dropped for Miami-Dade and Broward counties in April 2020, but the number of transactions for single-family homes still outpaced that of condos for both communities, according to the Miami Realtors Association April 2020 report. More square footage and outdoor space are drawing buyers to single-family homes, Hertzberg said.

Read the full story here.

LIFE AT BROWARD HOTELS AMID PANDEMIC

9:50 a.m.: Hotels and motels were given the OK to reopen in Broward County on Tuesday, and yes, you can still order room service, spend a day being pampered at the spa or take a dip in the pool. But, it will look different.

Here’s how different the experience will be for now.

HOW PANDEMIC HAS IMPACTED IMMIGRANTS WHO WERE ABOUT TO BECOME U.S. CITIZENS

9:40 a.m.: With his mother in deportation proceedings, the sooner that Luis, an immigrant from Venezuela, finishes the process of becoming a U.S. citizen, the better. Naturalization, the family’s immigration lawyer said, would allow Luis to petition for his mother to receive a green card and remain legally in Miami.

Until recently, things were on track: Luis had filed his 20-page application form back in December, the earliest he was able to under current law. After successfully moving past the next step in the naturalization process — a criminal background check — Luis was given an early April appointment for his citizenship interview.

But then the coronavirus pandemic struck, shuttering the offices of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that administers the country’s lawful immigration system. Luis’ interview, as well as all other in-person services at USCIS, including naturalization oath ceremonies, were deferred until further notice.

Read the full story here.

AN UPDATE ON FLORIDA’S UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS

9:30 a.m.: Florida had 173,731 new unemployment claims last week — the second-highest figure among all states, trailing only New York.

However, the new figure represented a decline of 23 percent from the previous week, showing the number of newly unemployed in the state may be tailing off.

The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday that 2.1 million claims were filed throughout the U.S. for the week ending May 23., a decline of 323,000. Most states saw declines in that week.

Read the full story here.

TOURISTS ARE COMING BACK TO KEY WEST SOON

9:20 a.m.: On Monday, June 1, the checkpoints at the top of the Florida Keys will be gone and hotels can reopen up to 50 percent occupancy.

Hotel owners and business leaders aren’t expecting many tourists at first.

“It’s like dipping your toe into the water and gradually making your way into the surf,” said Scott Atwell, executive vice president and CEO of the Key West Chamber of Commerce. “It’s going to be a nice slow process. Fingers crossed, we can get some business.”

Read the full story here.

CATCH UP TO START THE DAY

9:10 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Thursday begins.

▪ Florida coronavirus cases run past 52,600, and 60 new deaths push toll to more than 2,300

▪ Some Miami bars were planning to reopen by serving food. The city says not so fast

▪ Restaurants expand onto Ocean Drive roadway as they reopen after COVID-19 closures

▪ Miami plans to freeze hiring, postpone projects to weather COVID-19 budget crunch

▪ How and when will Walt Disney World reopen? Florida theme parks have a plan

▪ ICE admits to transferring detainees with COVID-19, says it can’t test everybody