Zika was the topic of conversation between state and local leaders in Wynwood Friday as they try to figure out how to fight it and how to undo the damage already done.
A U.S. senator, two congressmen, a mayor and other local government leaders came together to say thanks for the Zika money, now clear the red tape and spend it in South Florida.
"Because now we have to make sure that this money's dispensed quickly and is spent where it belongs, and that is in the states and counties that have spent money to battle Zika and have been impacted by Zika," Sen. Marco Rubio said.
That means mostly Miami-Dade County, where Wynwood is a success story but Miami Beach is still at the heart of the fight against the mosquito-borne disease. On Thursday, congress agreed to allocate $1.1 billion, much less than the president asked for but better than nothing.
"We wanna make sure that technical or bureaucratic obstacles don't stop that money from going to where it needs to go, where the battle has been," U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said.
And don't forget Broward, which has stepped up its mosquito control efforts to prevent Zika from spreading there.
"We have been dealing with this issue pretty strongly in Broward County, not quite the level here, but mosquitoes don't know where the county lines are and borders and that type of thing," Broward commissioner Chip Lamarca said.
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Included in the funding is $152 million to develop Zika prevention.
"I'm also very very happy that the funding will continue, enhanced funding to find a vaccine, which is really the final solution to Zika," Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said.
