It’s Monday, July 27th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Vice President Mike Pence will make a South Florida stop Monday to mark the beginning of clinical trials for a potential coronavirus vaccine at the University of Miami.
Pence will take part in a roundtable discussion with school leaders and members of the Miller School of Medicine along with researchers on what could help in the ongoing battle with the pandemic. As a participant of the National Institutes of Health COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network following their July 16th selection, the school plans to enroll 1,000 volunteers in South Florida in a clinical trial expected to start in the summer.
No. 2 - Florida has surpassed New York to become the state with the second highest number of coronavirus cases, with more than 9,000 new cases pushing Florida's case count close to 425,000 Sunday.
California currently has the most cases in the U.S. with more than 450,000, and New York has around 416,000. 9,344 new COVID cases brought the state's total to 423,855, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health. 77 additional virus-related deaths were also reported Sunday, the lowest increase in two weeks, bringing the state's resident death toll to 5,854.
No. 3 - Suggesting a narrower pandemic relief package may be all that's possible, the White House still pushed ahead with Monday's planned rollout of the Senate Republicans' $1 trillion effort as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assailed the GOP “disarray” as time-wasting during the crisis.
The administration’s chief negotiators — White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — spent the weekend on Capitol Hill to put what Meadows described as “final touches” on the relief bill Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to bring forward Monday afternoon. By Friday, millions of out-of-work Americans will lose an $600 federal unemployment benefit that is expiring and federal eviction protections for many renters are also coming to an end.
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No. 4 - Organizers held a "swim-in" protest Sunday after a Black woman says she and her family were racially profiled at a Fort Lauderdale park swimming pool.
Ghenete Wright Muir, also known as "G," is a member of nonprofit organization Diversity in Aquatics. Muir said it all started last week when she and her son, both competitive swimmers, were training in the pool at Joseph C. Carter Park when a white woman who was swimming in a lane between them became agitated. Muir said the woman refused to switch lanes with her so she could be closer to her son. She then demanded staff to call police. To hear what Muir had to say during the protest, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Arlene Borenstein.
No. 5 - The Miami Marlins delayed their postgame trip home amid concerns about a possible coronavirus outbreak within the team.
Manager Don Mattingly said the Marlins decided to wait until Monday to leave Philadelphia, and they planned to arrive in Miami hours before their home opener against Baltimore. The trip might be made while multiple players remain in Philadelphia. Mattingly declined to say whether he thought the Marlins' health issues were related to the Atlanta stop that took place before the season opening series against the Phillies.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, storm chances are lower to start the work week in South Florida while all eyes remain on what could be the next named system in the Atlantic in the coming days. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
