Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on August 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.
Zoo Miami’s Feast With the Beasts goes virtual due to COVID-19
4 p.m.: Zoo Miami spokesman Ron Magill says the zoo’s Feast With the Beasts silent auction event will be virtual for the first time due to the pandemic. The zoo won’t be open until at least Labor Day, he said.
Guests include South Florida smooth jazz musician Nestor Torres and cameos by Gloria Estefan, Shaquille O’Neal, Dave Barry, Dan LeBatard and Harry Casey from KC and the Sunshine Band. Log onto www.fwtb.org just before 8 p.m. to watch for free.
For those of you who can log on tonight at 8:00PM, please check out the first ever virtual "Feast with the Beasts"...
Posted by Ron Magill on Friday, August 28, 2020
UM President Julio Frenk: ‘No alcohol’ at games. No students at first two (includes FSU)
3:35 p.m.: Many University of Miami football fans are undoubtedly happy that at least 13,000 of them will be allowed to attend the home opener against Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Some might not be happy that they will not be allowed to drink alcohol there all season.
Students? They won’t be permitted to attend the first two UM home games — and that includes the Sept. 26 game against archrival and Atlantic Coast Conference foe Florida State.
In a letter to UM fans on Friday, Miami president Julio Frenk announced that there will be a no-alcohol policy this season in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the story here.
Mail ballots from several nursing home residents didn’t count in Florida primary
3:25 p.m.: Records obtained by the Miami Herald show that his nine ballot mail ballots of residents at the Jackson Memorial Long-Term Care Center in Allapattah — closed to visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic — weren’t received until the day after the election.
Their votes were among more than 10,000 rejected in South Florida during the Aug. 18 election as an unprecedented number of voters chose to cast mail ballots. Statewide, at least double that number were tossed, according to Dan Smith, a University of Florida professor who tracks and studies Florida’s rejected mail ballots.
And in November’s presidential election, the number of discarded votes in Florida is expected to balloon as coronavirus-driven voting patterns collide with Florida’s oft-challenged mail ballot laws.
“The pandemic is forcing individuals into a process where their odds of having their ballot rejected increases,” Smith said in an interview. “Tie inexperience into the equation and the rates are going to multiply.”
Read the story here.
Florida tops 615,000 COVID-19 cases as state adds 3,815 infections and 89 deaths
11:30 a.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Friday confirmed 3,815 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 615,806. There were also 89 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the resident death toll to 10,957.
There were no new non-resident deaths announced, so the non-resident toll remains at 143.
Read the story here.
UM opens more than 400 disciplinary cases — mainly due to students breaking COVID rules
9:30 a.m.: The University of Miami began its fall semester Aug. 17 and already the Dean of Students has opened more than 400 disciplinary cases — most of them centered on misconduct related to the school’s new public health rules due to COVID-19.
According to an email obtained by the Herald that summarized a Wednesday Faculty Senate meeting, the private university based in Coral Gables has closed 395 disciplinary cases, issued 22 fines and rolled out seven suspensions. It’s investigating another 70 open cases.
Read the story here.
Florida eyes rapid and sensitive coronavirus test that just hit market
9 a.m.: A new COVID-19 test approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday could dramatically improve and expand rapid testing for the disease in Florida, according to the state’s testing czar.
It’s unclear when they will be available. The U.S. is purchasing 150 million of the tests at a cost of $750 million, President Trump announced Thursday, a move that will boost the nation’s capacity for rapid testing.
But Jared Moskowitz, the state’s emergency manager, said they are a “game changer” will change the testing landscape in Florida.
Read the story here.
FIU publishes online tool with information on COVID-19 cases on campuses
8:55 a.m.: The fall semester at Florida International University began Monday, but its community won’t know how many students, faculty and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 until next Monday.
Earlier this week, the Miami-based public university published an online web page with a chart that provides weekly tallies of confirmed cases among students, faculty and staff, on and off campus.
The most recent data is from Aug. 17 to Aug. 23 — 14 reported cases in all. So far, seven students living or learning on campus, three students learning remotely, one faculty/staff working remotely and three faculty/staff working remotely have tested positive.
Read the story here.
Give your kids a daily report card? Experts say parents should monitor virtual learning
8:50 a.m.: Experts at Florida International University’s Center for Children and Families are suggesting a “Daily Report Card” to help your children navigate at least another few weeks, or a semester, of virtual learning thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The DRC is something you can add to your checklist of COVID-era tricks to help your child do better with the assigned classwork and, according to the Center for Children and Families, may also improve their behavior at home.
Read the story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
8:50 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Friday begins.
▪ Florida adds 3,269 new COVID-19 cases as the death toll rises to more than 10,800.
▪ Four more hand sanitizers recalled as ‘toxic.’ The FDA’s ‘Do Not Use’ list is up to 165.
