A divide over ‘shelter-in-place’ in Miami-Dade as coronavirus spreads to jail workers

As construction crews assembled a field hospital in the Miami suburbs and the National Guard prepared for another day of COVID-19 testing at shuttered sports stadiums, the siege on the spread of the coronavirus sparked more rules, measures and controversy.

Miami-Dade began the day leading Florida in known coronavirus cases, with 338 positive test results. The numbers statewide continued to surge. Florida’s Department of Health reported 55 new cases Tuesday evening, for a total of 1,467 people who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The total rose nearly 20 percent in a day.

Three employees of Miami-Dade’s jail system tested positive for COVID-19, the county announced Tuesday evening. The county has reduced its jail population some since the coronavirus emergency began nearly two weeks ago, but recent figures show the more than 3,500 inmates still in the system represent about 90 percent of the headcount that was there weeks ago.

With the coronavirus multiple times deadlier and more contagious than the flu, health experts warn of a coming wave of cases that could overwhelm South Florida’s hospital system.

Miami-Dade asked Florida for 2,000 spare hospital beds, and crews from Kentucky arrived late Monday to begin assembling the first phase of that request: a 250-bed field hospital at the county fairgrounds in Tamiami Park. “If the situation in Miami-Dade deteriorates to the point that we need it, we will open,” said Erika Benitez, spokeswoman for the county’s Office of Emergency Management.

The 12th day under an emergency declared by Mayor Carlos Gimenez on March 12 brought another layer of prohibitions on daily life in Miami-Dade, where all businesses deemed “non-essential” have been ordered closed. To his marina closure order from Saturday, Gimenez issued waivers for people living on boats, having to conduct emergency repairs and other narrow exemptions.

He issued a new ban on gatherings of more than 10 people, but continued to resist pressure to explicitly order people to remain in their homes with the kind of “shelter-in-place” decree issued by some Miami-Dade cities.

On Tuesday night Miami released a decree by City Manager Art Noriega stating “all residents living within the City of Miami are hereby ordered in their residences subject only to the exceptions permitted therein.”

The exceptions were broad, including “outdoor recreational activity,” work at essential businesses, and visiting any business allowed to remain open in the city or county, including grocery stores, banks, gas stations and other categories spared by Miami and Miami-Dade closure orders.

Gimenez pointed to those exceptions in defending his decision not to explicitly order Miami-Dade residents to stay indoors, arguing the closures set up the same confines established by the shelter-in-place instructions from Miami, Miami Beach and elsewhere. “In everything but name, it’s shelter in place,” Gimenez said.

On Tuesday, Annette Taddeo, a Democratic state senator representing the Kendall area, wrote Gimenez, a Republican running for Congress, and urged him to drop his “piecemeal approach” by ordering people to stay home as much as possible. “We must act now,” she said.

The day saw stronger action to prevent travelers from spreading COVID-19. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered anyone arriving from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in the last three weeks to isolate themselves for 14 days. In Monroe County, administrators announced plans for checkpoints on U.S. 1 to enforce earlier orders closing the Florida Keys to tourists.

Wednesday should bring an uptick in testing as Marlins Park is set to join Hard Rock Stadium as a drive-through testing site. Nationwide rationing of the test materials means only about 300 appointments are available and they’re being reserved for people over the age of 64 with coronavirus symptoms.

“We do have a limited number of test kits and we have a limited number of laboratory tests we can do,” said Carlos Migoya, CEO of the county-funded Jackson hospital system. “We want to make sure we take care of the highest-risk populations first, then we can go to the other populations.” Appointments are required for the tests; call 305-499-8767 to try and reserve a spot at either location.