It’s Tuesday, July 14th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Miami-Dade's mayor and his team of medical experts emphasized that the coronavirus outbreak in South Florida had reached a point of urgency due to a lack of public adherence to public health guidelines.
Florida shattered the national record Sunday for the largest single-day increase in positive coronavirus cases in any state since the beginning of the pandemic, adding more than 15,000 cases as its daily average death toll continued to also rise. The numbers came at the end of a grim, record-breaking week as Florida reported 514 fatalities - an average of 73 per day. Three weeks ago, the state was averaging 30 deaths per day. Since the pandemic began in March, 4,346 people have died in Florida of COVID-19.
No. 2 - More Florida leaders tell NBC 6 the effort to contain the coronavirus in South Florida has failed. Now, at least one congresswoman is calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to call another statewide stay-at-home order and issue a statewide mask mandate.
Rep. Donna Shalala, D-Miami, believes the state should return to “mitigation” - the state imposed measures to shut down the economy to slow the spread of the virus and to “flatten the curve.” She’d like the state to shut down for 14-21 days. Miami-Dade County is already closing indoor restaurant seating. For more on what Shalala and others are saying, click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Phil Prazan.
No. 3 – The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has released a new online tool to help people locked out of their accounts due to suspected fraud.
Last week, the DEO has launched a partnership with the technology company ID.me. According to the DEO, "This site is for claimants who are currently locked out of their CONNECT account due to suspected fraud. Individuals who received an email from DEO are invited to click the link provided to submit additional documentation." For more on the system and what those using it are saying, click here for the story from NBC 6 consumer investigator Sasha Jones.
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No. 4 - A South Florida woman is working to regain her physical strength with therapy, but she says it was her strength to survive that got her through her darkest days with COVID-19.
Stefanie Miller says her health issues started at the end of March when she developed a cough and wheezing. Then, her mother tested positive for the coronavirus. Miller was initially in the hospital to get her asthma in check after developing a cough, but then went home. Six days later, she says she started getting fever and chills and was admitted back in the hospital and diagnosed with COVID-19. For more on her survival story and her message for others, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Amanda Plasencia.
No. 5 - A woman was arrested this weekend after police say she allegedly broke into her neighbor’s Southwest Florida pool several times this past weekend for a simple reason - to go skinny dipping.
Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to the Englewood home starting Friday after the owner, David Wardell, said his pool cage had been cut open. The following day, Wardell said he saw 22-year-old Capri Wiedemann swimming in the pool naked from a security camera installed while he was in Canada. Wiedemann initially denied being at the scene, but her mother told deputies she does swim in the neighbor’s pool often. She was arrested and charged with trespassing and burglary before bonding out.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, lower rain chances across South Florida on Tuesday will bring above average temperatures to the area before more wet weather returns later in the week. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
