It’s Monday, April 27th - and NBC 6 has the top stories you need to know for the day.
No. 1 - Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez says he is working with the County Attorney’s office to finalize emergency orders requiring specific health practices for parks, waterways and golf courses that wish to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a video posted on Twitter, Gimenez said the rules in the emergency order follow recommendations made by medical experts. This comes after a week where local and state leaders worked with various task forces focused on brainstorming ideas on how to get the economic engines up and running.
No. 2 - Miami-Dade will see the opening of the county’s first walk-up testing site Monday for residents during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Residents can get tested at the Holy Family Catholic Church site, located at 14500 Northeast 11th Avenue in North Miami, each Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. An appointment is required and you can sign up by calling 305-499-8767.
No. 3 - Those seeking to file for unemployment benefit claims in the state of Florida got a chance to do so again Monday after the state’s website went offline this weekend amid an overflow of filings.
The Florida Department of Employment Opportunity’s CONNECT website system reopened at 8 a.m. on Monday after the weekend break while still "making payments and processing claims" while offline. Claimants could still register their information during the weekend. Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the launch of a new dashboard that would track the total number of reemployment assistance claims that had been submitted, verified, processed, and paid.
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No. 4 - During an appearance on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, the White House coronavirus task force response coordinator warned that social distancing practices will need to continue through the summer to ensure the safety of the American people.
"Social distancing will be with us through the summer to really ensure that we protect one another as we move through these phases," Dr. Deborah Birx said to Chuck Todd. Birx's comments come after Mike Pence said on Friday that the coronavirus pandemic could be "largely" behind Americans as early as Memorial Day weekend.
No. 5 - As many use gloves and face coverings when going out in public, perhaps along the way you’ve seen some of these items left behind and littered. Now, a Miami Beach group taking to social media to fight back against the littering and waste of personal protective equipment.
Mariajose Algarra is a member of “Clean This Beach Up," an environmental advocacy group that spends most of its time and energy cleaning up Miami Beach. With the closure of local beaches due to COVID-19, the organization has turned its mission to awareness about the discarding of gloves across South Florida. To hear more on how they are helping, click here for a report from NBC 6 meteorologist Ryan Phillips.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, after a wet Sunday, South Florida will see a beautiful start to the work week with a dip in temperatures and less humidity. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
