MIAMI (WSVN) - Health officials from Jackson Memorial Hospital are sending out a public plea ahead of the holidays as the number of coronavirus cases in South Florida are apparently going in the wrong direction.
They said there are things that can be done to prevent a second surge.
“It’s out there, it’s spreading, it’s a risk, it’s a danger,” said one doctor.
South Florida’s frontline workers are preparing for another COVID-19 surge after weeks of what seemed like a plateau in the spread.
“All of our projections are that there will be some increase, uptick, surge or whatever you want to call it for the next 30 days,” said Jackson Health CEO Carlos Migoya.
“We really have been controlling the situation. We urge everyone in the community to please cooperate,” said Dr. Lillian Abbo.
As coronavirus cases surge across the country, Florida reported roughly 3,000 new cases on Monday. The positivity rate was just shy of 6%.
“We know that in July, the impact after graduations in June and the impact after the Fourth of July when people had massive gatherings and parties was significant,” Abbo said.
In South Florida, both Miami-Dade and Broward broke weeks of positivity rates hovering at or below 5%. As of Monday, 5.76% in Miami-Dade, 7% in Broward and 7.5% in Monroe.
“We have a handle on things right now. The hospitals have plenty of capacity, but we are keeping a close eye,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
As we prepare to celebrate the holiday season, health leaders are urging South Floridians to continue to take precautions.
“Everyone has to continue to do the same boring thing we’ve been talking about for months now, which is keeping your hands clean, hand hygiene, you’re masking and social distancing, and don’t get overly confident of someone that you know and just because you know them doesn’t mean they don’t have the virus,” Migoya said.
With Halloween coming up on Saturday, health officials are asking people to stay away from large gatherings and to mask up if they are going trick-or-treating.
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