Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on October 21
▪ 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 numbers late. Again.
2:10 p.m.: The Department of Health has yet to update its COVID-19 Dashboard, a process that usually goes live around 11 a.m. The state has not explained why the health department has failed to update its figures so far.
The last time it happened was on Saturday, Oct. 11. Late that day, the Florida Department of Health initially blamed Helix Laboratory for sending in thousands of duplicated test results that had to then be extracted. By the following Monday, the health department reversed its position and said it was not Helix’s fault, after all, but rather blamed the slowdown on a technical issue that caused the data’s repeated duplication
Before that occasion, the state reported 7,569 cases on Sept. 1, which was out of character for that period. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said that boost was the result of a “data dump” of old cases, some dating back to April, the state received from Quest Labs.
As for Wednesday’s issue? At 12:30 p.m., the health department’s office of communication responded to a Miami Herald query with a terse, “We have received your inquiry and will advise as soon as possible.”
A Florida company wrongly refused $1,200 sick pay to a worker with COVID-19, Labor says
10:20 a.m.: A Panama City landscaping company violated the Family First Coronavirus Response Act’s sick leave portion by refusing to give a COVID-19 positive employee paid sick leave, the U.S. Department of Labor announced.
Garden Escapes, run by Jeffrey Reynolds, paid the employee $1,200 in back pay.
Read the full story here.
COVID cases up to almost 100 in Miami-Dade schools. Broward, Keys see rising cases, too
9:30 a.m.: As Miami-Dade public school students and faculty embark on their third week back to face-to-face learning, the number of children and staff members who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus neared 100 Tuesday, the district said. School cases in Broward County and the Florida Keys continue to rise as well.
According to the online dashboard where Miami-Dade Schools tallies confirmed positive cases, 54 staff members and 36 students had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday.
There are likely many more cases than are showing up on the ledger, though, because the district must confirm all test results of those who have self-reported with the Florida Department of Health before adding them to the list, officials say.
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 Wednesday begins.
▪ PortMiami wants $285M in COVID rent breaks for cruise lines as debt pressures grow
▪ Florida adds 84 resident deaths and 3,662 new COVID cases, pushing total past 760,000
▪ Uniformed Miami police officer spotted wearing pro-Trump mask near voting site will be disciplined
