I am willing consider voting "yes" only when city hall and the superintendent's office come forward with requested information on past spending as well budget projections. In the past, they refuse to release this information, even to our elected alderman and school committee members who have had to repeatedly enforce compliance with the State's Public Records laws by filing complaints with the Secretary of State's office. I consider this obstructionist and undemocratic behavior by the mayor, school committee chair, superintendent of schools and other complicit public servants as a personal attack against the taxpayers and students of Melrose. This abhorrent behavior continues to this day and was the primary reason the last override failed miserably. Melrose taxpayers would like to make an educated decision on the override, but cannot if these city officials continue to deny information requests.
Just look at the history of the superintendent as she has not been transparent over the years . A few years ago a member of the SC resigned and asked for the superintendent’s resignation. Now the SC has a disbarred lawyer and ex convict as its chairman. It should be no mystery why the majority of residents in this community do not trust the information coming from city hall.
Melrose takes awhile to wake up and hopefully not to long this time. It is time for This superintendent. To be fazed out soon.
I still smile whenever i think of that override getting flushed down the toilet by the realistic people in our city.
If people think that the override will serve the attended purpose, then they are ill-informed or completely ignorant. While many good educator's have left this school system, for varied reasons, the administrator's have replaced them with inexperienced, sub standard teachers for lower salaries. Look no further than the English department at the high school, or the math department.
People leave positions all the time for more pay, better work environment, better benefits, ect. This is not a unique situation. When used to justify pulling more tax $$ from hard working people it is insulting.
The reason you don't see many administration supporters posting here is because every time they do try to pass on the administration's propaganda, they are totally and thoroughly debunked with facts they can't dispute.
The administration is scared to death of this site, both now, and in it's prior incarnation. Why else do you think Dolan banned access to it, a practice that continues to this day?
This is the only place where voters can get even a portion of the truth. They certainly can't get it from city officials, who continue to mislead, obfuscate, and outright lie about all things fiscal. Melrose is a house of cards. The sooner that house of cards collapses, the sooner we can get a mulligan and fix the mess we've allowed to happen.
Just curious about whether or not folks are opposed to THIS override or all overrides. If you don't want to share, that's cool.
I voted for the large override in 1992 (which, btw, we still continue to pay; it was in inflation-adjusted terms comparable to the current override proposal), and for the middle school debt exclusion even without children of my own in the system. I did not vote for the 2015 override proposal, which was a grab-bag of divers goodies whose incoherence left my mouth agape.
I am open to project-specific debt exclusions for capital construction projects for a policy and fire buildings (not one bond to cover multiple projects - I do not trust the current administration to resist the temptation to hide problems by moving money around), preferably timed to kick in when the middle school bond is paid off (or, to figure out a way to retire that bond earlier).
For now, I lack trust in the school administration and Dolanite insiders in City Hall to support this override. Exposure to the underside of the city's governmental insiderism has done that to a number of Melrosians, very much including on the progressive side of things where there's not a simple allergy to taxes. (To put it in local terms, whereas back Ye Olde Days the late Sue Kelleher (d. 2009) was our local version of Barbara Anderson (d. 2016) and skepticism about property taxes was more associated with one segment of the political spectrum, today I would very say: not no mo', and override proponents would be well advised to avoid assuming things now are like Ye Olde Days in that regard.)
As I've mentioned elsewhere on these boards, the property taxes on my modest apt have increased nearly 13% in the last year, and over 11% in the previous year, and my property taxes have increased over 75% on a compounded inflation-adjusted basis (over 120% in absolute terms) in the last 14 years - so far ahead of anything like 2.5% a year. I am not persuaded that I am undertaxed in light of what an override can bring in the future, but without the governmental and administrative culture changes that would be needed to restore the bona fides of City Hall and the school administration.
I appreciate the answer. Next question....how do we move forward/change enough to satisfy folks like yourself? Who has to leave the City admin? I wonder how many years it will take. And I'm a little afraid of what will happen to city services in the meantime. Thanks.
Taymore must go. And the lifers on the BOA and School Committee who've never demonstrated any critical fiscal and governance distance from the Dolan borg*. (Mind you, I voted happily for Dolan at first and then a few more times, given the GOP borg that preceded him - Balfour (anyone remember him? he had the MDC sinecure) would have been a disaster.)
It would be much more helpful if we had a skeptical editor of our local press organs. Local press (hardly unique to Melrose) tends to be credulous of what municipal administrations put out in the feeder, so it's generally just more PR than news.
* I would not welcome Scott Brodeur as mayor unless and until he demonstrated that, either. I am not holding my breath. And I'd want any mayor to commit to leave after no more than 8 years. Ditto aldermen. We don't have a have a charter amendment to demand that. Zwirko, who I had high hopes in when he was running, has disappointed me greatly; he poses well but allowed himself to be assimilated into the borg.
*Paul Brodeur
So, looks like Driscoll is the SC member you speak of? All of the others are fairly new, and I wouldn't call them lifers. BOA, decent mix of old and new. But I see where you're coming from. Thanks for the info. I appreciate knowing where people are coming from.
I also voted for the 1st override with no problem! I voted no on the 2nd because I felt too much money going to administrators. I am voting no on this one for a number of reasons. I have an issue with how fast this was done. I would have preferred an elected Mayor to address the override. Also this is a lot of money for one department. I am nervous about where the money will be applied in the future. If the amount requested was less I would probably vote YES. I think it was either Stoneham or Reading that reduced the amount asked and it passed Thank you for respectfully asking why.
And thank you for a simple answer!
Seems that a large part of the 5.18 will go to rehires (from cut positions), new hires and teacher salaries, and those things will not go away in the future and will need continued funding (well, if those did get cut to put money elsewhere, you'd have all of the "yes" voters going bonkers after working so hard to get more $$ more the schools). But I do know a lot of share that concern. Lack of trust in city govt.
If the override fails again, I think we'll be having the same discussions again, pretty soon.
Stay warm!
The reason you don't see many administration supporters posting here is because every time they do try to pass on the administration's propaganda, they are totally and thoroughly debunked with facts they can't dispute.
The administration is scared to death of this site, both now, and in it's prior incarnation. Why else do you think Dolan banned access to it, a practice that continues to this day?
This is the only place where voters can get even a portion of the truth. They certainly can't get it from city officials, who continue to mislead, obfuscate, and outright lie about all things fiscal. Melrose is a house of cards. The sooner that house of cards collapses, the sooner we can get a mulligan and fix the mess we've allowed to happen.
Whose leaving now?
Respect The Rights Of Others. Treat others as you want to be treated.
This is the only place where voters can get even a portion of the truth. They certainly can't get it from city officials, who continue to mislead, obfuscate, and outright xxxx about all things fiscal.
They are hoping to get lower voter turnout in order to pass it. Everyone equates Election Day to November. They mayor and proponents will suggest it’s because fiscal year begins July 1. However, the fiscal year begins every year on July 1. Think about it. The 2015 override was in November and the citizens spoke loud and clear in soundly defeating it.Their only chance to ever pass an override is through a special election. If the election was in November instead of April it would only impact one fiscal year. The cost for the special election at all 14 precincts is 25-30k. Seems such a waste when a mandated election is 7 months later. Additionally, the mayor has been discussing override plans since last April. She could have asked BOA toput it on November 2018 ballot. However, she knows it would be defeated by a wide margin if election is in November. Shameful!!!
The override debate has dominated civic discussion in Melrose ever since the Board of Aldermen agreed to this tax override vote.April 2 2019 Tuesday .
Congratulations. You just got you Masters in stating the obvious - again.
It could be interpreted that way I suppose. But how about this? Stop swiping METCO funds for use in the general school budget.
The override is going to fail. I wonder what disingenuous snarky comment she'll make then? The expression on her face as she was saying that made me want to throw a brick at the TV. What a tarantula.
Do yourself a favor. Take a long, hard, honest look at the collection of nitwits running the schools. How could you possibly expect anything but what we've gotten?
Educated and informed voter.We do have.Just to get even basic information in order to make informed decisions on important votes. The voters will do April 2 2019.
Lesson to be learned: Change.
Demand Truth and Accountability.
Parents should be blamed for some of their actions. I don't think they have to worry it will be the same president again.
As we have discovered (almost daily!), you can apparently lie despite the facts, and a lot of buffoons will STILL Not have all the facts.
How can you stop teacher from leaving? More are leaving again. No leadership or control from this administration.
Dolan and Taymore Banking on Paul B. to win then he's all set again.
Monica would never take Melrose in the wrong direction again like Mayor Dolan or Clarke I was voting for Monica anyway her record speaks for her.
Going Against the Odds To Be Successful. Never be afraid to have a little sane touch of madness. Like Ellen DeGeneres now saying what the presidents family face daily is not kind.
Great post i agree with it all.this democrat will be voting for her.i do not care about the R next to her name its about the person for me and she is fair and will listen to both sides.with me its time for a change in this city and with paul its the same crap we had with Dolan..
Lesson to be learned: Change the school superintendent . short of this nothing changes.This is for PAUL Brodeur,Hopefully with all your experien you will have a new superintendent
This is the only place where voters can get even a portion of the truth. They certainly can't get it from city officials, who continue to mislead, obfuscate, and outright lie about all things fiscal. Melrose is a house of cards. The sooner that house of cards collapses, the sooner we can get a mulligan and fix the mess we've allowed to happen.
It's about being accountable. How can Taymore look people in the eyes and say that she are for educational excellence when she lack a basic understanding of transparency and honesty towards the residents of Melrose.This website often sheds light on subjects politicians.The truth hurts.We all have every right to be concerned.What's going on in Melrose?
Lesson to be learned: Change the school superintendent . short of this nothing changes.Do it soon 2019.
Where have you been? She's retiring June 30th. There's no way in hell now that anyone is going to do anything before then!
Where has he been? He's been busy repeating the same idiotic post over and over and over again under different screen names.
Thanks! That's a relief!
Nobody:s forcing to read this string.Maybe time for you to go to bed to get a good night sleep.
As mass infections strike even in places that had seemed to tame the coronavirus, officials are turning to targeted and fast-but-flexible approaches to stop third or fourth waves.
Giving a coronavirus swab test in Beijing on Monday.
Giving a coronavirus swab test in Beijing on Monday.Credit...Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
By Sui-Lee Wee, Benjamin Mueller and Emma Bubola
June 24, 2020
Updated 1:30 p.m. ET
China is testing restaurant workers and delivery drivers block by block. South Korea tells people to carry two types of masks for differing risky social situations. Germany requires communities to crack down when the number of infections hits certain thresholds. Britain will target local outbreaks in a strategy that Prime Minister Boris Johnson calls “Whac-A-Mole.”
Around the world, governments that had appeared to tame the coronavirus are adjusting to the reality that the disease is here to stay. But in a shift away from damaging nationwide lockdowns, they are looking for targeted ways to find and stop outbreaks before they become third or fourth waves.
While the details differ, the strategies call for giving governments flexibility to tighten or ease as needed. They require some mix of intensive testing and monitoring, lightning-fast response times by the authorities, tight border management and constant reminders to their citizens of the dangers of frequent human contact.
The strategies often force central governments and local officials to share data and work closely together, overcoming incompatible computer systems, turf battles and other longstanding bureaucratic rivalries. Already, in Britain, some local officials say their efforts are not coordinated enough.
The shifting strategies are an acknowledgment that even the most successful countries cannot declare victory until a vaccine is found. They also show the challenge presented by countries like the United States, Brazil and India, where the authorities never fully contained initial outbreaks and from where the coronavirus will continue to threaten to spread.
“It’s always going to be with us,” said Simon James Thornley, an epidemiologist from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “I don’t think we can eliminate the virus long term. We are going to need to learn to live with the virus.”
ImagePedestrians wearing face masks in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Pedestrians wearing face masks in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday.Credit...Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Even in places where the coronavirus appeared to be under control, big outbreaks remain a major risk. In Tokyo, there have been 253 new infections in the past week, 83 from a nightlife district. In Gütersloh in western Germany, more than 1,500 workers from a meat processing plant tested positive, prompting the authorities to shut down two districts. South Korea, another poster child for fast responses, has announced dozens of new infections in recent days.
In Rome, which recently emerged from one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe, 122 people have been linked to a cluster case at a hospital, the San Raffaele Pisana Institute. Several days later, 18 people who lived in a building with shared bathrooms came down with the virus.
“As soon as we lowered our guard,” said Paolo La Pietra, who owns a tobacco shop in the neighborhood, “it hit us back.”
Some countries, like South Korea and Japan, aimed to make their responses nimble.
South Korea calls its strategy “everyday life quarantine.” The country never implemented the strict lockdowns that were seen in other places, and social-distancing measures, while strongly encouraged, remain guidelines. Still, it has set a strict target of a maximum of about 50 new infections a day — a target that it says its public health system, including its testing and tracing capacity, can withstand.
Officials shift the rules as needed. After a second wave of infections broke out in Seoul, city officials made people wear masks in public transportation and closed public facilities for two weeks.
The South Korean government has added new guidelines as it has learned more about outbreaks. It advises companies to have employees sit in a zigzag fashion. Air-conditioners should be turned off every two hours to increase ventilation, it said. It has discouraged singing in markets and other public places.
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A Tokyo cinema earlier this month.
A Tokyo cinema earlier this month.Credit...Charly Triballeau/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
It has also advised people to carry two types of masks in summer — a surgical mask and a heavy-duty mask, similar to the N95 respirator masks worn by health care workers, to be used in crowded settings.
Japan, which endured only limited lockdowns, also wants to keep its limits light to help restart its economy. It is considering allowing travelers from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam. As an island nation, Japan cannot afford to keep its borders closed any longer, said Shinzo Abe, its prime minister.
Last Friday, Japan launched a contact tracing app that would alert users if they had been in touch with a person who tested positive in the last 14 days. Railway operators have launched an app and websites telling commuters how crowded the trains are at any given time.
Officials are also warning people constantly to change the way they live. Though bars and clubs are reopening, hostesses have been told to refrain from being next to a client when singing karaoke and dancing. Nightclubs must minimize music and crowd volumes to reduce the spread of respiratory droplets. Citizens are advised to continue avoiding the “Three Cs” — closed, crowded and close-contact activities.
“We need to run the economy strongly by controlling the infection risks with less-restrictive measures and take measures which put more emphasis on protecting jobs and life,” said Mr. Abe.
Some countries, like China, are learning to ease back from their more draconian methods. The Chinese government virtually isolated tens of millions of people in the city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei Province when the outbreak began.
Image
A restaurant in Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month.
A restaurant in Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month.Credit...Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times
Mindful of the economic damage, Chinese leaders have adopted looser restrictions. In Beijing, officials told residents that they could take off their masks outdoors. Temperature screening in the city became less widespread.
Then, on June 12, Beijing officials announced that 53 people had tested positive for the coronavirus. Instead of locking up the capital city, officials promptly shut down a market and residential communities surrounding it and mobilized close to 100,000 community workers to test roughly 2.3 million residents in about a week.
“A city as big as Beijing can’t be in a state of wartime resistance forever,” said Mao Shoulong, a professor of public policy at Beijing’s Renmin University. “How many more times can we endure this?”
Unlike Wuhan, the effort was targeted. Other Beijing neighborhoods stayed open as usual. The Chinese government tends to favor a mass testing approach focused on specific groups — in addition to the people connected to the market, it said it would also test residents living in high- and medium-risk neighborhoods, restaurant and retail staff, students and teaching staff, and health care workers.
The Coronavirus Outbreak
Frequently Asked Questions and Advice
Updated June 24, 2020
What’s the best material for a mask?
Scientists around the country have tried to identify everyday materials that do a good job of filtering microscopic particles. In recent tests, HEPA furnace filters scored high, as did vacuum cleaner bags, fabric similar to flannel pajamas and those of 600-count pillowcases. Other materials tested included layered coffee filters and scarves and bandannas. These scored lower, but still captured a small percentage of particles.
Is it harder to exercise while wearing a mask?
A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
What is pandemic paid leave?
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.
What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
How does blood type influence coronavirus?
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
How can I protect myself while flying?
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
What should I do if I feel sick?
If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
China’s strategy is not to bring infections to zero, said Zhang Wenhong, an adviser to the Shanghai government on the pandemic. Instead, in an interview with China’s Caixin magazine, he described China’s game plan as “getting close to zero cases.”
“Prevention and control with precision, coupled with rapid medical treatment,” Dr. Zhang said. “This strategy will be applicable to China for a long time.”
European governments are also learning to be more flexible following their strong responses, though the process can be slow. In Germany, officials have stipulated that regions or municipalities that register more than 50 new infections per 100,000 people in seven days must quickly respond to quell the outbreak, using tools like school closings, full quarantines and mass testing.
Image
A shoe shop in Southampton, England, this month.
A shoe shop in Southampton, England, this month.Credit...Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Though many of these efforts are intensely local, they require close coordination with central officials and neighboring jurisdictions. England, for example, is exploring limited, tailor-made shutdowns around clusters of infections, but local officials warn that the system is full of potential holes.
Health officials in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are largely responsible for their own strategies. In England, where local officials have complained about a lack of testing data from the central government, employers or building managers have picked up the slack by keeping track of infections and respond to outbreaks. Some, like the headquarters of a major retailer in East Lancashire, have been praised by public health officials for taking quick action.
But controlling the virus would require an understanding of where it is lurking, especially difficult for a disease in which 80 percent of the cases have mild symptoms. Several local public health directors said in interviews that they learned about outbreaks from the news. The level of detail that officials need to decide on localized shutdowns — the postal codes of people testing positive, for example — remains elusive.
“Every pandemic begins as a local outbreak,” said Lincoln Sargeant, the director of public health in North Yorkshire. “It’s granular intelligence that we need in a timely fashion.”
Mr. Johnson, the prime minister, has maintained that local shutdowns are sufficient to control new waves of the virus. In the beginning, the government “had very few instruments at our disposal,” he said on Friday. Now, he said, officials can “identify outbreaks where they happen.”
He has likened the effort to Whac-A-Mole, the decades-old arcade game. Officials can “take the preventive measures necessary on the spot, rather than going back to the national lockdown approach,” he said. “That’s what we hope.”
In Rome, the outbreak at the San Raffaele Pisana Institute tested the ability of the local authorities to find and stop outbreaks.
Local health officials tested patients and staff at the hospital, emptied three wards and sealed off the building. Former patients and their contacts queued in their cars outside drive-in testing stations. Rome’s prosecutors opened an investigation into clusters’ origin.
One of the people who became ill was a pulmonologist, Vittorio Bisogni. He came down with a slight fever after he visited a patient who had been released from the hospital. Dr. Bisogni was diagnosed with the virus on June 9. His patient died a few days later.
I read a little of this, of course not the whole thing, it's a bit more than a "message". Is there a portion of it mentioning "more staff leaving the high school"?
Really ??? A teacher leaving to get a different job is viewed as MAJOR CHAOS
!!! Get a f'n life !!!
June 28, 2020
Updated 8:09 p.m. ET
MIAMI — John Delgado has slept in a tent in his backyard for 57 nights and counting.
As the inventory manager of Farm Share, an immense South Florida food bank, Mr. Delgado, 51, finds himself holding his breath under his face-covering as he speaks to the many clients who come in without masks, for fear that coronavirus particles will seep through the fabric.
Because he interacts with the public every day, Mr. Delgado sleeps outdoors to avoid contaminating his wife, aging mother-in-law, three sons and grandson. At night, he sometimes peeks through the window to watch his wife sleep. By day, he does socially -distanced yard work with his sons.
“I want to sleep in my house, sleep in my bed,” he said. “I want to hug my wife, my children, grandson, and want to go out to the community not feeling like I’m in ‘The Walking Dead,’ where I’m going to be attacked by a zombie. I want to live. Right now, I don’t feel like I’m living.
“How long is this going to be?”
On Saturday, for the second straight day, Florida crushed its previous record for new coronavirus cases, reporting 9,585 infections. Another 8,530 were reported on Sunday.
The closest hospital to Mr. Delgado’s house in Homestead, 40 miles south of Miami, is nearing capacity as Covid-19 cases soar. The situation in Miami is equally serious: One-third of all patients admitted to the city’s main public hospital over the past two weeks after going to the emergency room for car-crash injuries and other urgent problems have tested positive for the coronavirus.
ImageJohn Delgado, his home in Homestead, Fla., in April. Mr. Delgado has slept in a tent in his yard for 57 nights and counting.
John Delgado, his home in Homestead, Fla., in April. Mr. Delgado has slept in a tent in his yard for 57 nights and counting.Credit...Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald
Six-hour lines formed in Jacksonville over the weekend as thousands of people flocked to get drive-through tests. Orlando has seen an explosion of coronavirus: nearly 60 percent of all cases diagnosed in that county came in just the past two weeks.
Much of Florida’s new surge in cases appears to follow from the reopening of beaches, bars, restaurants and other social activities. The state’s beaches are full and throngs of revelers pack its waterways on boats.
Many people have had enough of staying inside, feeling trapped and scared. As fear subsided, coronavirus grew.
Florida now joins South Carolina and Nevada among the states that broke daily records over the weekend.
“I’m one of the people who contributed to the 9,000-person day,” said Ian Scott, a 19-year-old college sophomore in Orlando who tested positive on Friday. He has no idea how he got it.
Mr. Scott said that for young people, getting tested has become an amusing pastime. They challenge each other to see who can get the nasal swab test without crying. About half of his fraternity has tested positive.
“We’re seeing positive, positive, positive, positive,” he said. “My generation says: ‘Let’s get this over with. Let’s suck it up for two weeks, sit in our rooms, play video games, play with our phones, finish online classes, and it’s over.”
Mr. Scott barely felt sick, and was fine by the time the test results came back. Patients like him could help account for the fact that while Florida’s daily case count has increased fivefold in two weeks, the rate of deaths has not increased so far. State records show that hospitalization rates have inched up but are not at crisis levels.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said more Covid-related fatalities in the state had been people over 90 than people under 65.
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Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami on Sunday. One-third of the people admitted through the emergency room over the past two weeks have tested positive for the virus.
Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami on Sunday. One-third of the people admitted through the emergency room over the past two weeks have tested positive for the virus.Credit...Saul Martinez for The New York Times
The median age of new coronavirus patients is now 36, the Department of Health said.
“Those groups are much less at risk for very serious consequences,” Governor DeSantis said of younger patients. But they can spread the virus to their older relatives and others who are medically vulnerable without even realizing it, he stressed.
Officials have done little so far to halt public interactions. The mayor of one affluent Miami suburb implored residents this week to stop throwing house parties; on Friday, state officials prohibited the sale of alcohol in bars. Miami-Dade and Broward counties chose to close its beaches for the busy Fourth of July weekend.
Governor DeSantis said the surge of new cases can be attributed to the huge numbers of tests results that are coming in each day. But he acknowledged that since the second week of June, the share of tests coming back positive has been creeping upward. That trend coincided with the reopening of the economy, and also the onset of recent street protests.
Statewide, about 20 percent of people aged 25 to 34 are testing positive, he said at a news conference Sunday.
He said the risk has also increased as temperatures outside rise and people seek relief in the air conditioning.
“As it gets warmer in Florida, people want to beat the heat,” he said. “They are more likely to do that indoors, in closed spaces. That is going to increase the risk of transmission of the coronavirus.”
Florida public health experts worry that the surging case numbers will lead to a crush of hospitalizations and, eventually, of deaths.
“We know that there’s a lag,” said Natalie E. Dean, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida.
Even though young people are less likely to have severe cases, the long-term consequences of Covid-19 infection among the young are still unknown, she said. “Some people do get pretty sick,” she said. “Even what’s classified as a mild disease, some people really get the wind knocked out of them for a week.”
The people from Melrose who work here are not the ones who are getting in trouble. Some depts. have not hired from Melrose in years skipping over excellent prospects.
I agree that Governor DeSantis is a complete space shot, but when was he part of the staff leaving the high school?