Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on September 22
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.
Miami School Board votes for later soft school opening Oct. 14, full opening Oct. 21
6 p.m.: At the end of what may be a record-breaking 29-hour special meeting that began Monday, the Miami-Dade County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to push back the gradual start of schools’ reopening until Oct. 14, more than a week later than first proposed.
A soft opening of schools is expected for students in Pre-K, kindergarten and first grade and students with special needs on Oct. 14. The next day, students in grades 6, 9 and 10, many of whom may be in new school buildings for the first time, are expected to return.
Schools will be fully open for all students who wish to return to the school house on Oct. 21.
Read the full story here.
Is a contact tracer calling you?
4 p.m.: Do you answer your phone if you don’t recognize the number?
The Florida Department of Health is urging people to save several numbers in case they receive a COVID-19 contact tracing call.
The numbers to know: 833-673-0864 (0865,0866,0867,0868), 833-443-5364 or 850-583-2419. Calls may also come from county health departments.
Contract tracers are tasked with tracking how the disease is spreading.
To save the numbers visit ow.ly/u5A550BdMxk.
@HealthyFla urges all Floridians to answer calls from (833) 673-0864 (0865,0866,0867,0868), (833) 443-5364, (850) 583-2419, or county health departments regarding #COVID19 contact tracing. Click the link and read below to save the numbers in your contacts. https://t.co/GkLVWW2ffT pic.twitter.com/uRMCC2FmHE
— Florida Dept. Health (@HealthyFla) September 22, 2020
Worried about going to the movies? You can rent this entire theater in Miami for $99
2 p.m.: So you’re dying to see Christopher Nolan’s new film “Tenet.” But you know COVID-19 is still a thing, and you don’t trust your fellow Miamians to keep their masks on and their phones off in the theater.
No problem.
At Silverspot Cinema in downtown Miami, you can rent a theater for you and your friends — or just yourself, if your friends are also jerks — for a private screening of “Tenet.” Or whatever movie you might like to see.
Read the full story here.
Florida reports nearly 100 coronavirus deaths as positivity rate ticks up slightly
12:30 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 2,470 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 687,909. There were also 99 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the resident death toll to 13,416.
There were no new non-resident deaths, leaving the non-resident toll at 163.
On Tuesday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 44,908 people tested on Monday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 5.88%, the highest seen since Sept. 8 when Florida announced a positivity rate of 5.92%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate was 7.55% of the total, the report said.
These positivity rates are the highest seen in nearly two weeks.
Read the full story here.
Will schools reopen for in-person learning? Miami-Dade, Broward School Boards to decide
9:30 a.m.: Will public schools be opening soon for in-person learning in Miami-Dade and Broward County?
It all depends on what the School Board for each districts decides Tuesday.
The School Board for Miami-Dade County Public Schools will be voting on the matter around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, after more than 18 hours of public comments left on voicemail were played.
The public comments, which began playing during Monday’s School Board meeting, are required to be heard before holding a vote. Some of the comments were played overnight, possibly to no board members listening. The board clarified that it does not need a quorum during public comment.
School Board members will be voting on the staggered reopening plan Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho recommended Monday. The plan has students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, and students with special needs returning to the classroom next week on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
By Wednesday, Oct. 7, all students (elementary, middle, high school) would be back in the classrooms, except those whose parents opted for the district’s online learning model.
In Broward County, Superintendent Robert Runcie will be presenting his Phase 2 reopening plan for Broward schools to the School Board Tuesday. The board is expected to discuss and vote on the proposal the same day. The School Board meeting is expected to begin around 10 a.m.
To learn more about the meetings, tune in or see the agenda:
▪ Miami-Dade School Board meeting expected to begin around 11 a.m.: http://www.dadeschools.net/schoolboard/
▪ Broward School Board meeting expected to begin around 10 a.m.: https://www.browardschools.com/Page/35670
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.
▪ South Florida reports two COVID deaths as Florida adds 1,685 cases, lowest since June
▪ The Caribbean has reopened and COVID-19 is spreading — but one island is finding success
▪ Miami-Dade, Broward enter Phase 2. What’s opening?
