Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on October 27
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.
Confirmed COVID cases in Miami-Dade schools tops 250, while Broward nears 150
6:15 p.m.: Miami-Dade public school students are in their fourth week of in-person learning, and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the district have topped more than 250.
The breakdown is 74 employees and 177 students as of Tuesday, according to the school system’s online dashboard that’s keeping track of cases in schools.
That’s 50 confirmed cases since Friday.
The actual number is likely significantly higher, however, since there is a lag time between when a person self reports and when the Florida Department of Health confirms the diagnosis. Only after the Health Department confirmation does a case appear on the dashboard.
On Monday, the district added 25 students to the dashboard, the highest addition since Oct. 20, when 29 pupils were counted on the ledger.
Read the full story here.
Rand Paul says restaurants should hire people who’ve had COVID-19, disputing science
5 p.m.: Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday people who have recovered from COVID-19 can not get it again, despite scientific evidence that refutes his claim.
Speaking at a campaign event for Nick Freitas, a congressional candidate in Virginia, the outspoken Kentucky senator urged restaurants and cruise ships to hire people who have had COVID-19.
“If I owned a restaurant, I’d have a whole wing for senior citizens or for anybody who is worried about getting sick, and I would say, all my servers have already had it,” Paul told the crowd. “If I had a cruise ship, I’d hire everybody. No exceptions. Everybody would have had the infection that works on the boat.”
Reports of reinfection of COVID-19 has “been infrequent,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week. But the CDC added that reinfection “is expected to increase with time,” as more people recover but the virus continues to spread.
Read the full story here.
Infected health care workers make up 6% of COVID-19 hospitalizations, CDC says
4:15 p.m.: Health care personnel made up around 6% of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 at 13 sites, according to a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC analyzed hospital data taken from March 1 to May 31 of 28,972 adults hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those people, 438 were health care workers, including 36% who were in nursing and 73% who were obese. Around 28% were admitted to the intensive care unit, 16% needed to be on a ventilator and 4% died.
Health care personnel were most likely to report obesity as an underlying condition followed by hypertension and diabetes. Those who have less direct contact with patients had higher incidences of obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Read the full story here.
Millions of gloves meant for hospitals were stolen in Broward County. Cameras recorded it
2:40 p.m.: More than a million dollars worth of medical gloves meant for hospitals across Florida, Ohio and Illinois were stolen from a Medgluv warehouse in Broward County, a company official said.
Cameras recorded the theft around 11 p.m. Sunday at Medgluv’s warehouse in the area of Northwest 41st Street and Coral Ridge Drive in Coral Springs. Medgluv is a medical glove supplier for the nationwide healthcare industry, according to its website.
Read the full story here.
Florida adds 4,298 coronavirus cases, and 56 resident deaths push toll past 16,500
1 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 4,298 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 786,311. Also, 56 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 16,505.
One new non-resident death was also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 204.
Florida has seen some increase in newly confirmed cases this month. The state’s percent positivity for new cases — people who tested positive for the first time —increased from 5.91% to 6.31%, according to the Florida Department of Health. Testing also saw some increase.
How Miami-Dade’s cultural affairs department helped arts groups during the COVID-19 pandemic
12:05 p.m.: The ripple effect of giving is a beautiful thing.
For the artists and arts groups of Miami-Dade, the county’s Department of Cultural Affairs has long been a kind of river of sustenance – never more so than during the pandemic.
Led for three decades by Michael Spring, a visual artist himself, the department has long been considered to be among the country’s best. When COVID-19 hit, Spring and his colleagues — deputy director Marialaura Leslie, grants chief Gilda B. Mooney and 14 other staff members whose portfolios include working with grants — pivoted into an organized, highly effective crisis mode.
“In March, we didn’t know how long the COVID storm would last,” says Leslie. “We tinkered with our tools so we could report the financial impact on a monthly basis…We made sure we had accurate data, vetting all information through our grants administrators, so we could see the financial impact in real time. Once we assessed the damage, we looked at the resources we could tap into to help the arts community.”
Click here to learn more.
Here’s why Miami shark researchers are concerned about a COVID-19 vaccine
9:30 a.m.: Science’s steady march to find a vaccine capable of ending the coronavirus pandemic may come at the expense of another species: sharks.
Miami shark researchers say they’re concerned about a key ingredient used to make vaccines more effective, squalene — an oily substance found in plants and even human skin — but is particularly concentrated in shark livers.
The practice of using shark-derived squalene as a booster to stimulate a stronger immune response to a vaccine is not unique to the coronavirus vaccine. The compound has been shown to be safe and effective in millions of doses of vaccines, primarily in Europe, said Liza Merley, a shark immunologist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
“We don’t exactly know what it is about this oil that allows that to work the way it does,” Merly said.
But squalene in vaccines has been shown to create more robust immune responses, and there are a handful of COVID-19 vaccine candidates that use it for that purpose, most of them partnered with GlaxoSmithKline, which manufactures a squalene-derived component for vaccines.
Read the full story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
9:30 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Tuesday begins.
▪ Florida reports 3,377 coronavirus cases, and 20 deaths push resident toll to 16,449
▪ Miami nurse sues doctor colleague, says he ‘deliberately’ infected her with COVID-19
▪ With fewer people getting tested for COVID, Florida turns to rapid tests for a boost
▪ US ‘not going to control’ COVID-19 pandemic, White House Chief of Staff Meadows says
