It’s Tuesday, July 21st - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Days after meeting with business leaders in the community and opening up the possibility of another round of lockdowns amid the coronavirus pandemic, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is expected to provide new information Tuesday at a news conference.
Suarez will speak at a 9:30 a.m. press conference at City Hall near Coconut Grove, days after speaking at the same location and saying the possibility was there that things could be shut down again due to the rise in numbers. Suarez met with business leaders on Friday before he said he would make a decision on whether to make the move, citing the growing number of cases in the city and the reduced availability of ICU beds in area hospitals.
No. 2 - The number of infected Florida residents confirmed to have died in the coronavirus pandemic in recent days is more than double the number posted back in mid-May, when Gov. Ron DeSantis began reopening the state.
After being confronted at a news conference by protesters in Orlando who said he was lying to the public, DeSantis Monday suggested a statistical quirk in how deaths are counted could be behind part of that surge. Citing a report of one fatal motorcycle crash victim who had the virus apparently being classified as a COVID-related death, DeSantis said the state Department of Health was following guidance on how to count deaths from the CDC. For more on what the Governor had to say, click here for a report from NBC 6 investigator Tony Pipitone.
No. 3 - One of Florida's largest teachers union has filed a lawsuit against the state's emergency order requiring public schools to reopen next month.
The Florida Education Association, which represents over 100,000 education workers, says the suit is intended to "stop the reckless and unsafe reopening of public school campuses as coronavirus infections surge statewide." Earlier this month, Florida's Department of Education issued an emergency order requiring that all public schools reopen to students in-person for the fall semester.
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No. 4 - Minorities providing health care at assisted living facilities and nursing homes drove in a protest caravan to care locations in North Miami-Dade and Broward County.
This group says that Black and Hispanic people have the lion’s share of these jobs at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, saying they could use better and more protective personal equipment. The workers also say while other employees are able to work from home, they don’t have that choice. To hear more of what many working in the health care field had to say, click here for a report from NBC 6 investigator Willard Shepard.
No. 5 - The Miami Marlins will be back on the field Tuesday for the first exhibition games since Spring Training games were canceled over four months ago due to the pandemic.
Miami will play two games against the Atlanta Braves, with both games being played at Atlanta's Truist Park on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Marlins will open their regular season on Friday, July 24th with the Marlins facing the Philadelphia Phillies in a three game series at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. Miami will return home for their first game of the season inside Marlins Park on Monday, July 27th against the Baltimore Orioles in a two game series.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, scattered morning showers and storms stick around South Florida for much of Tuesday with localized flooding in some areas. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
