MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – With the new year just two weeks away, Miami-Dade County is battling several different fronts in its on-going fight against COVID-19.
The re-opening of Wynwood Walls, which has been closed since mid-March, is a hopeful shot in the arm to the local economy. Business development in the area are banking on the world renowned murals to attract tourists to surrounding small businesses hit hard by the pandemic.
Hope was also found this week in hospitals across Miami-Dade and Broward counties as healthcare workers began to receive their first does of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Seniors at long-term care facilities also began receiving shots this week.
And then by week’s end, a Food and Drug Administration panel cleared Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. State leaders say more than 350,000 Moderna doses could start arriving next week in Florida.
In the state, those vaccines are expected to go to more than 150 hospitals, which would greatly expand access to first in line priority groups.
With months to go before we reach community immunity, hospital data is a sobering reminder of the current battle in this on-going fight. Miami Mayor Frances Suarez expressed a sobering fact. “We have an issue. We just crossed a thousand people threshold in the hospitals,” Suarez said.
To prevent another hospital surge, Miami-Dade County’s Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the in-public mask mandate and the midnight countywide curfew will continue to be enforced.
For two days, Christmas eve and New Year’s Eve, the curfew will be rolled back one hour to 1 a.m.
“We can and we will beat this coronavirus if we work together,” Levine Cava said.
The general public is not expected to have access to the vaccine until spring 2021, which is why medical experts are saying that mask wearing, social distancing and other safety protocols be adhered to, especially as we enter the next two weeks.
Related links
List of cases by city in South Florida
Find a COVID-19 testing site near you
Hospital bed capacity and availability
Coronavirus cases in Florida schools