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Coronavirus Updates: Florida Passes Half A Million COVID Cases

By

Elizabeth Kim

and

Jessica Gould

Published Aug 5, 2020

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Mural honoring essential workers in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

 

Damien Derouene / Flickr

By

Elizabeth Kim

and

Jessica Gould

Published Aug 5, 2020

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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Wednesday, August 5th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.

New York City is in Phase 4 of reopening now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, and professional sports (without fans). A look at preparing for the spread of coronavirus is here, and if you have lingering questions about the virus, here is our regularly updated coronavirus FAQ. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.

Here's the latest:

4:45 p.m. Florida surpassed 500,000 confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, becoming only the second state after California to reach that grim milestone.

Its cases per capita is the third highest in the country, after Louisiana and Arizona, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (As of August 5th, New York State had documented a total of 418,225 cases.)

The Sun Belt states have been especially hard hit as the virus has surged across most of the country this summer, forcing renewed shutdowns and public health warnings. But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican and favorite ally of President Donald Trump, has become a poster child for mishandling the crisis—holding out against issuing a stay-at-home order and then rushing the reopenings, even as experts warned that testing in the state was still insufficient.

Similar to Trump, DeSantis had repeatedly sought to downplay the virus, initially blaming an increase in the number of cases on increased testing, an assertion that experts said was not enough to explain the rise in infections and hospitalizations.

“A new case is just a positive test. It doesn’t mean somebody’s sick,” the governor said in June. “The number of cases is not necessarily something that’s going to tell you what the burden of the disease is.”

At one point, he suggested the media was to blame for failing to adequately cover the pandemic.

He has also been accused of sidelining the state's public health officials. In May, he fired the state's top data scientist who was charged with tracking infections. Rebekah Jones, who worked at the Florida Department of Health, said the governor had pressured her to manipulate the data to support the reopening. She said when she refused, she was let go.

At first, DeSantis tried to dismiss the complaint, saying he was under the impression from her supervisor that she was "tired and needed a break." Later, his office issued a statement saying that Jones "exhibited a repeated course of insubordination" and had herself tampered with the data.

Jones later created her own dashboard.

The state only began releasing hospitalization data on coronavirus patients on July 10th.

In keeping with Trump's agenda, DeSantis has also vowed to fully reopen schools, saying last month, "If you can do Home Depot, if you can do Walmart, if you can do these things, we absolutely can do the schools."

To date, DeSantis has resisted calls to issue a statewide mandate for wearing face masks in public, although almost one third of counties require them in certain settings.

Teachers Union Petition Calls For Better Test and Trace Program In Schools

The New York City teachers union, the UFT, is calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to establish a more aggressive test and trace plan as a precursor to reopening schools in September.

The union is calling on members to sign a petition that demands a “rolling testing regimen,” in which student and staff volunteers at every school get tested. The petition also demands a group of contact tracers who are dedicated specifically to schools, a guarantee that tests will be available in 24 hours, and a nurse in every school building.

In a letter to members, UFT president Michael Mulgrew acknowledged that the union worked with the de Blasio Administration on the school reopening plan, but said it currently falls short.

“With lives in the balance, we believe that public school educators in New York City should not return to school buildings unless there are adequate protocols and procedures in place to ensure the safety and health of our school communities,” Mulgrew wrote.

The letter comes a day after news of the resignation of Department of Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot, who reportedly opposed elements of the public school reopening plan.

Hundreds of teachers rallied against the reopening plan in Manhattan on Monday.

NYC Is Now The Only Big U.S. School District Planning In-Person Classes

Chicago public schools, the country's third largest school district, will begin the school year with remote learning only, after originally planning for a hybrid model.

“Here in Chicago, we are in a better place than most other areas in the country and in the surrounding area,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a press conference on Wednesday. “But the fact of the matter is, we are seeing an increases in cases. The decision to start remotely makes sense for a district of CPS’ size and diversity.”

The decision by Chicago officials to abandon its original plan makes New York City the only large school district in the United States still planning for in-person classes come September. With approximately 1.1 million students, the New York City public school system is by far the largest. Chicago has about one third as many students.

Chicago has a positivity rate of 5%, the threshold above which public health experts have recommended that schools not reopen with in-person instruction.

The city has also witness an uptick in virus cases over the last several days.

Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Public Health Department, cited the growing number of cases as a reason for the reversal.

“The fact that over the last four to five weeks, we’ve added between 80 and 100 cases and not seen signs of that turning around, makes us concerned as we’re planning ahead for a complicated school district like CPS,” she said. “We need to make these decision a month in advance, and if we’ve added 80 to 100 new cases over the last month without seeing turn around, we very easily could have that or more in the month ahead.”

On top of that, Lightfoot and school officials were facing increasing pressure from the Chicago Teachers Union, which was planning to strike against the reopening.

As news of the shift leaked Tuesday night, the union’s president, Jesse Sharkey, tweeted, “A win for teachers, students and parents. It’s sad that we have to strike or threaten to strike to be heard, but when we fight we win!”

Lightfoot, however, denied that the union's protests influenced the decision.

Here in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio and school officials are awaiting on the approval of their hybrid model plan. Governor Andrew Cuomo, who faulted the mayor for not yet submitting the individual plans of all 1,800 public and charter schools, has said he would respond this week.

Last week, de Blasio said that city schools would hold classroom instruction as long as the positivity rate within the five boroughs does not exceed 3%.

The city's positive coronavirus testing rate currently stands at 1%.

To learn more about New York City's public schools plans, read Gothamist's frequently updated school reopening guide.

Tagged

covid-19 updates

coronavirus

Elizabeth Kim

Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]

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Jessica Gould

Twitter

Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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