Leaders in the four-county southeastern region are initiating conversations over what the phases might look like in terms of a slow reopening of public areas and business. But with COVID-19 cases still climbing in the hot spot sections of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, some Monroe County leaders say they aren’t going to make a move on such reopenings until they feel it’s safe.

The county’s representative in the U.S. House, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, is also warning county officials throughout the state and Gov. Ron DeSantis against a premature lift of mitigation measures without widespread testing and a contact tracing plan. 

Decisions to reopen amenities and parts of the local economy will depend on the situation in the counties just to the north that, combined, have 15,887 out of the 26,660 cases in the state as of Monday afternoon. But it will also depend on testing in Monroe County and when it will become more widespread to determine who already has the antibodies. 

Dr. John Norris speaks about the state of COVID-19 in the Keys during a Monday press conference with U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Jim McCarthy/Keys Weekly

For a time, Key West physician John Norris would go door-to-door doing nasal swabs whenever he could get them. The chief of staff at Lower Keys Medical Hospital, Norris said he constantly brings up and begs for testing. 

“I was getting five at a time at most,” Norris said during a Monday press conference with Mucarsel-Powell. “Now, I’m told by Quest I’m not guaranteed to get any for some time.” 

On a Monday morning county emergency management call, Monroe County Mayor Heather Carruthers questioned Bob Eadie, administrator and public health officer with the Monroe County Health Department, over tests, and specifically when more will make their way to the Keys. For the past month, Carruthers said they’ve been hearing that new tests are on the way.

“We’re at this over a month now,” she said. 

Eadie said he was told that they’re being approved. He said he thinks the county will be able to do more testing within a few weeks.

“I’m repeating what I’ve been told from Tallahassee that tests are on the way,” Eadie said.

Eadie said the testing is two-pronged; one to see who has the disease and the other to see how many people have the antibodies.

Carruthers told Keys leaders she’s surprised there’s an eagerness to open given the positive case rates of 17% in Dade, 12% in Broward and 13% in Palm Beach as of Monday afternoon. Monroe County’s positive case rate is 8%. 

In Dade, Mayor Carlos Gimenez is working on a plan to slowly open parks, marinas and beaches with rules for people while out recreating. He’s currently holding a town hall via Facebook on Monday evening to gather feedback. 

“We need to be a little more careful. Our timetable will be different than theirs, and we’re developing our own plan,” Carruthers said.  

At the state level, DeSantis announced the formation of a task force that would arrange a recommendation on how to reopen the state in the short, mid and long term. On Monday, he held his first phone call with the group that consists of Chamber of Commerce Chairman and CEO Mark Wilson, who’s chairing the group, the state’s Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz, Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, Secretary of Healthcare Administration Mary Mayhew and several metropolitan area mayors. Topics up for discussion will include expanding testing, restaurants and bars, agriculture and theme parks. 

“We want to see people back to work for the long haul,” he said. “We want to continue with Florida’s economic development strategy.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell provides remarks during a press conference on Monday. Jim McCarthy/Keys Weekly

In her remarks Monday afternoon, Mucarsel-Powell said it’s premature for the governor and elected officials to be opening up public spaces, such as that seen at Jacksonville Beach last weekend and what Gimenez is proposing. While she understands the want by the people to return to their pre-corona lives, Mucarsel-Powell said easing precautions without public health infrastructure poses a danger to public health — and it could extend the pandemic and cause greater damage to the economy in the long run. 

Mucarsel-Powell said there are several measures that must happen before reopening, the first being passage of an interim emergency aid package to help workers and businesses stay afloat.

“This is happening now. We should be able to pass this bill on Wednesday,” she said. 

She also said the federal government must invest in a widespread, rapid testing system that still isn’t in place. She said House and Senate Democrats have a plan to invest some $30 billion for implementation of a comprehensive testing strategy.

“We heard from experts at Harvard who estimate that the U.S. right now only tests about 150,000 people a day. We need to triple that,” she said. 

Monroe County Emergency Management Director Shannon Weiner acknowledged that the state is focused on getting test kits to hot spots. As for the mass testing facilities like those seen in Dade, they were initially run by the feds. But now they’re being operated by the state with support from the National Guard. 

“Larger hotspots tend to be priority…  we do what we can for our local community so they have testing as well,” she said. 

So long as there’s active infections in Monroe County, Eadie said they must take a cautious approach. And without a robust ability to test, Eadie said they must be even more conservative because “we’re flying in the dark.”

“I know people are very frustrated about not being able to move around,” he said. “We still have a ways to go. We’re closer to being at the end of the curve, but we’re not there yet.”

Norris, too, is placing warnings about reopening too early. 

“If you open up the doors suddenly, you risk drowning hospitals and the health care system because you have to know what you’re dealing with and you have to be able to control it,” he said.

As of Monday afternoon, the health department reported no new cases of COVID-19 in Monroe County. The total case number is currently 73, with 34 community-acquired, 22 travel-related at 17 under investigation.

A total of 346 additional positive COVID-19 cases (344 Florida residents and 2 non-Florida residents) were reported to the health department in its latest report. The day before, the state reported 318 new cases.

 

Jim McCarthy is one of the many Western New Yorkers who escaped the snow and frigid temperatures for warm living by the water. A former crime & court reporter and city editor for two Western New York newspapers, Jim has been honing his craft since he graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 2014. In his 4-plus years in the Keys, Jim has enjoyed connecting with the community. “One of my college professors would always preach to be curious,” he said. “Behind every person is a story that’s unique to them, and one worth telling. As writers, we are the ones who paint the pictures in the readers minds of the emotions, the struggles and the triumphs.” Jim is past president of the Key Largo Sunset Rotary Club, which is composed of energetic members who serve the community’s youth and older populations. Jim is a sports fanatic who loves to watch football, hockey, mixed martial arts and golf. He also enjoys time with family and his new baby boy, Lucas, who arrived Oct. 4, 2022.