Joint statement on rising COVID cases from Miami-Dade elected leaders, healthcare leaders, and public safety officials

Today, Miami-Dade County Daniella Levine Cava along with other elected leaders, healthcare leaders, and public safety officials released the following statement about rising COVID cases:

There is no question Miami-Dade has made great progress tackling coronavirus – but recent trends show clearly that the pandemic is not over. With new, more contagious, and more dangerous COVID variants on the rise, particularly the Delta variant, the positivity rate is steadily increasing again – now up to 8.3% from 3.6% less than a month ago – as are hospitalizations.

The facts are clear: the vast majority of those who end up in the hospital due to COVID are unvaccinated. In the last three weeks, the number of COVID-positive inpatients at Jackson Health System has increased 178 percent. Nearly all of them, a whopping 95 percent, are unvaccinated, and more than 40 percent are younger than age 50. The Delta variant is especially dangerous for young people, as we see a growing number of otherwise perfectly healthy patients in their 20s and 30s hospitalized with worsening symptoms.

We have come too far and made too much progress to go back now. We are calling on our residents: please get vaccinated as soon as possible if you haven’t already done so to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community.

Particularly as our economy rebounds and people across the county gather for large events, it is more critical than ever that everyone who is eligible get the vaccine as soon as possible to prevent more contagious variants from spreading rapidly throughout our community. The vaccine is safe, and it is highly effective in protecting against hospitalization and severe illness.

We also urge our residents to wear masks around large crowds of people and particularly around those who are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. Children under the age of 12 who are ineligible for the vaccine should also mask up around others.

Miami-Dade has already achieved a vaccination rate of over 75%, according to Florida Department of Health data – an enormous milestone, and a major factor in keeping positivity rates down relative to other parts of the state. But COVID variants pose a real and growing threat, and we can't stop now.

For nearly a year and a half, our healthcare workers and first responders have put their lives on the line and made enormous sacrifices to protect our residents. If we can all step up and do our part once more – by getting this vaccine - we can slow the spread and prevent the variants from reversing the great progress we have already made.

Together, let’s keep our community safe and our economy moving forward. To find the vaccination site nearest you, visit miamidade.gov/vaccine.

SIGNED BY
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami-Dade County
Chairman Jose "Pepe" Diaz, Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners
Mayor Francis Suarez, City of Miami
Mayor Carlos Hernandez, City of Hialeah
Mayor Dan Gelber, City of Miami Beach
Mayor Joseph M. Corradino, Village of Pinecrest; President, Miami-Dade County League of Cities
Carlos A. Migoya, CEO, Jackson Health System
Dr. Peter Paige, Chief Physician Executive and Chief Clinical Officer, Jackson Health System; Miami-Dade County Chief Medical Officer
Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department
René G. Landa, Chief of Police, South Miami Police Department; President, Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police
David Magnusson, Chief of Police for Village of El Portal Police Department; COVID-19 Committee Chairperson, Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police