MIAMI – A group of Jackson Health System doctors and nurses took a break on Tuesday to receive praise from Miami-Dade County commissioners in their chambers.
Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz was ready with an elbow bump. He introduced a proclamation on Feb. 26 to declare March as Health Heroes month and presented it during the commission meeting.
It has been a challenging year for the public health system, which had support from the federal government. According to The Florida Department of Health, 11,685 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in Miami-Dade, including 102 non-residents.
Diaz’s proclamation acknowledged the pandemic created a “huge workload” for healthcare professionals who “go above and beyond the call of duty to provide care and comfort for their patients.”
They have also had to feel the powerlessness of watching patients die. As of Tuesday, 5,481 people died of COVID-19 in Miami-Dade, according to the FDOH.
Doctors and nurses have also had to sacrifice their lives. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at least 1,370 healthcare personnel have died of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Gov. Ron DeSantis first declared a state emergency on March 9, 2020, after announcing the first coronavirus cases in Florida. The state’s COVID-19 death toll as of Tuesday was 31,696 people, including 561 non-residents.
Former Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez issued a state of emergency two days later after the World Health Organization declared there was a global coronavirus pandemic. Former President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020.
Gimenez began the gradual reopening of the business sector on May 18, 2020. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava continued with the “new normal” approach and extended the state of emergency on Feb. 24.
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