Keys see a rise in COVID cases, with 31 in a day. Will it get worse for tourist season?
The Florida Keys are experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases as the island chain heads into tourist season that will have snowbirds returning.
Monroe County on Monday reported 31 new cases, but no new deaths. Over the weekend, the Keys added 27 new known cases and one death.
The Keys, with a population of about 75,000, have a known total of 2,080 cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic began earlier this year. There have been 201 cases in the past 14 days with a 7% positive test rate, the county announced on Monday.
“We are going into season and we are going to see a spike in numbers,” said Bob Eadie, administrator for the Florida Health Department of Monroe County. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance to limit gatherings, especially ones where masks are not used.”
County leaders on Monday concluded they could do little else but urge people to take precautions.
“It’s cold up north and more people will start coming this way,” said Eadie, during a meeting of the county emergency management team on Monday. “We need to be as prepared for it as we can.”
People need to wear face masks, maintain social distancing, wash their hands and get a flu shot to help stay safe, Eadie said.
“There’s a lot of pressure from people who say, ‘I don’t want to do this,’” Eadie said. “They’re the ones that make the most noise. There’s an ad somewhere. The best way to put it is, wear the damn mask.”
COVID-19 outbreak
The latest increase can be traced back to Monroe County residents, Eadie said, with several having attended a group gathering.
“They weren’t practicing social distancing and mask-wearing and all of a sudden we get an outbreak,” Eadie said.
There isn’t much county leaders say they can do when it comes to installing new restrictions on gatherings or mask-wearing.
“You have a limited ability to impose sanctions because the governor has limited your ability to impose fines on individuals,” said County Attorney Bob Shillinger.
Monroe still has a mandatory mask ordinance that requires masks be worn inside and also outside unless you can maintain a six-foot distance from others. But the county can’t fine people, only businesses, for violations.
Eadie recommended that government meetings, which have resumed in-person sessions, be held only virtually.
“Anything we can do to encourage people to do the right thing, we should do that,” Eadie said.
Zoom or in-person meetings?
The Monroe County Commission intended to hold its Wednesday meeting both in person and on Zoom, as first encouraged by the state’s Phase 3 reopening plan. The governor, though, later allowed government panels to meet online only until the end of October. County commissioners will meet virtually only on Wednesday.
“We’d recommend other elected bodies do the same to reiterate to our public we’re not out of this yet,” County Mayor Heather Carruthers said.
In the schools
On Sept. 14, Monroe County fully reopened schools to students who wanted to return to the classroom. That’s the same day bars reopened in the Keys.
On Monday afternoon, the school district’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 14 students had tested positive, along with two staff members and one teacher.
The school district’s latest enrollment figure was 8,686, which is 263 fewer than when the district moved to virtual instruction earlier this year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Of that total, the district has 360 students who have chosen to go to Monroe County’s virtual instruction program full-time and 16 who have chosen Florida Virtual School.
