Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on August 10
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.
Havana goes back into lockdown to contain COVID-19 outbreak
6:10 p.m.: After the relaxation of some restrictions in July, Havana went back into lockdown on Monday, after more than 200 coronavirus cases were reported in the last two weeks.
In the capital, public transportation has been suspended starting Monday. The government closed beaches, parks, restaurants, bars and other businesses. Access to Havana is limited to authorized individuals.
Cuban authorities also suspended the licenses that allow private taxi drivers to operate and said the government will guarantee transportation to workers in “essential” activities.
Read the full story here.
Royal Caribbean floats testing passengers for COVID-19 when cruising resumes
5 p.m.: For likely the first time in Royal Caribbean Group’s 52-year history, the company has gone nearly four months without a passenger cruise. It’s no surprise then, that the company’s second quarter earnings were the worst on record as the COVID-19 pandemic keeps the industry largely paralyzed.
In a financial filing Monday, Royal Caribbean Group reported an adjusted net loss of $1.3 billion, or $6.13 per share, for the second quarter, compared to an adjusted net income of $532.7 million, or $2.54 per share, in the prior year. The company estimates its monthly cash burn to be between $250 million and $290 million.
Unlike its largest competitor Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean does not have any concrete plans to start cruises again. Carnival Corp. planned to start cruises on its AIDA Cruises ships in Germany on Aug. 5, but pushed back to Sept. 6 after a delay in approval from the ships’ flag state, Italy. Royal Caribbean Group cruises, along with cruises for other member companies of Cruise Lines International Association, are canceled in the U.S. until Oct. 31.
Read the full story here.
Colleges, universities look at COVID lessons learned from spring to prepare for fall
4 p.m.: She created a plan to avoid infection at all costs: She’ll drive 20 hours from her parents’ home in Chicago to her apartment in Miami. That way, she’ll stay away from airports and use her car in South Florida come fall, instead of relying on Uber rides like before.
After months of mulling it over and even considering a gap semester, she finally decided she would return to the University of Miami this fall to play the viola face-to-face with her professors and classmates as a rising junior studying music.
But every day, as soon as Marissa Katz checks the skyrocketing tally of confirmed COVID cases in Miami-Dade County, she flinches.
Read the full story here.
Two recalls of ‘toxic’ hand sanitizer and over 30 additions to FDA’s Do Not Use List
3:15 p.m.: Not enough alcohol, the addition of methanol, and other chemical violations ballooned the FDA’s Do Not Use List of hand sanitizers to 135 over the past week.
Also, two more hand sanitizers have been recalled and one recall’s size was clarified.
Containing methanol, which the FDA calls “toxic” in hand sanitizers, remains the main violation for hand sanitizers recalled or on the Do Not Use List. The agency clarified Monday morning that any ethanol or isopropyl alcohol with more than 630 parts per million of methanol counts as adulterated.
Read the full story here.
Time to return to theme parks? Not yet, say nearly 80% of parents, poll finds
1:25 p.m.: Even Disneyland, which remains closed, and Walt Disney World can’t lure most parents back to theme parks with their kids as the coronavirus pandemic continues, a new poll finds.
The poll, by Morning Consult and The Hollywood Reporter, finds that 78% of U.S. parents say it’s too soon to return to any theme park this summer.
Florida adds 4,155 new coronavirus cases, one of the lowest totals reported since June
11:50 a.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 4,155 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s known total to 536,961. There were also 91 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the statewide resident death toll to 8,277.
Monday’s newly confirmed cases is the lowest the state has reported since 4,752 cases were announced on Aug. 3. Some state-supported testing sites were beginning to reopen at that time after closing for Tropical Storm Isaias.
Read the full story here.
COVID-19 Cases in Florida
Miami public schools return to online learning. What lessons were learned from spring?
9:25 a.m.: Reopening Miami-Dade public schools began as a game of “ifs.”
If positive cases trend downward for 14 days. If testing for asymptomatic minors becomes widely available and expeditious. If at least 25% of a school’s student body opts to stay home, then the rest can go to the schoolhouse.
But as students, parents and teachers approach the first day of school — now Aug. 31 for Miami-Dade — there is finally more clarity on what school will look like. School will be remote and online until at least Oct. 5.
In Miami-Dade, ground zero of the epicenter of the relentless coronavirus pandemic that continues to infect and kill Floridians, the lessons of an improvised spring quarter are the best guide to this coming year of online learning.
Read the full story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
9:20 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Monday begins.
▪ Florida’s confirmed COVID-19 total surpasses 532,800 with 6,229 additional cases
▪ Injured cruise ship worker ‘forgotten’ after seven months in South Florida hotels
▪ Coronavirus won’t stop Souls to the Polls in Florida — but it will look different
