Miami-Dade will begin requiring weekly COVID-19 testing of county employees amid a spike in hospitalizations and cases, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Thursday.
Beginning Aug. 16, all non-union employees will be tested on a weekly basis. Employees who are vaccinated can opt out if they provide proof of their vaccination status, and exceptions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Levine Cava said.
Levine Cava said the move is being made as the county's positivity rate has jumped to over 13%. She said as of Wednesday, nearly 1,500 people were hospitalized with Covid in the county, with about 88% of them unvaccinated.
"Our community and the state are continuing to combat a grave and worsening Covid spike," Levine Cava said.
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Levine Cava said the spike is being driven primarily by people who are unvaccinated as well as the more contagious delta variant.
The mayor said around 17% of the county's employees - over 5,000 - responded to a recent survey about whether they were vaccinated, with 83% of those saying they were.
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Levine Cava also announced Thursday that the county has hired former Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz as a special advisor on Covid strategy.
