Miami, Florida.- Confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased by more than 500 in recent hours and already add up to 18,494, of which 438 has proved lethal, according to the latest data from the Department of Health of a state in which the situation in the least resource sectors is deteriorating significantly. The death toll has increased by 19 since the previous bulletin, issued on Friday.
Hospitalizations have also grown, from 6,300 to 6,487, according to this twice-daily count by the Florida Department of Health.According to different sources, these bulletins do not reflect the true impact of the disease and how it is actually progressing, as they are based on COVID-19 tests conducted, the results of which take time to get to know each other.
Starting Monday, we’re going to make it easier for people who can’t leave their homes to test COVID-19. We have this and other important information for Miami-Dade residents this weekend. https://t.co/78IuBNlPHz @MiamiDadeBCC @MiamiDadeEM—Major Carlos A. Gimenez (@MayorGimenez)
April 11, 2020
As for the death figures, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez noted this week that, according to information from the county medical examiner, there have already been more than a hundred deaths from COVID-19, but according to the Department of Health’s account they are less. In the latest bulletin, the state department attributes 6,487 cases and 91 deaths to Miami-Dade. The main focus of the disease in Florida is in the southeast of the state, in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the latter two with 2,806 and 1,441 cases and 76 and 80 deaths, respectively, according to updated figures.
Since the pandemic arrived in Florida, 173,187 coronavirus tests have been done and 10.7% have tested positive. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who resisted for weeks to decree mandatory confinement throughout the state, has announced that quick COVID-19 tests will begin and asymptomatic people who have had contact with the sick will be able to access the tests for the first time. What there is no doubt about is the great negative impact that the new virus has on the employment and income of people with fewer resources.
This Saturday, two free food deliveries organized by the charity Feeding South Florida gathered hundreds of people in Miami and Miramar, who made long lines from five hours before the start, according to local media footage. Initiatives like these have sprung up across the state since the closure of non-essential businesses in the state and thousands of people lost their jobs.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in February 2020 Florida had an unemployment level of 2.8 percent, one of the lowest in the country, which together had a rate of 3.5%, the lowest in half a century. The situation has changed radically with COVID-19 and so as of April 9, almost 17 million workers had lost their jobs in just 21 days in the United States. Efe
Original source in Spanish
