With a look at some of the top stories making the news today, August 14 across your Caribbean-American community in South Florida, I’m…for CNW 90.
Today’s newscast is brought to you by the Florida Department of Health;
To help stop the spread of COVID-19, The Florida Department of Health in Broward County reminds everyone to practice social distancing, wash your hands often with soap and water and cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing.
Coming up in the newscast, Miami-Dade records over 4,000 cases in one day as Florida breaks the COVID-19 single-day death record, Cuba scientists working to develop COVID-19 vaccine meanwhile the virus affects governments in Bahamas and Guyana.
Now for the news in the detail
Just a week before the reopening of schools in South Florida, the state this week saw an increase in cases and COVID-19 resident deaths. On Wednesday, Miami-Dade County set a new COVID-19 daily record with 4,141 new cases of the virus, up from the county’s previous high 3,576 set on July 12. The day before, on Tuesday, Florida again broke its COVID-19 single-day death record, reporting 276 new resident deaths and erasing the previous record of 257 on July 31. Florida is now up to over 550,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 8,700 resident deaths. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has predicted that Florida’s death toll will double by the middle of October and surpass 19,000 by December 1.
In Local News, the U.S. Census Bureau has begun door-to-door canvassing throughout Broward County to count residents who have not yet responded to the 2020 Census questionnaire. The door-to-door canvassing is part of a national effort to boost response rates in communities with an undercount. In Broward County, self-response rates are just under 60%, lower than both the state and national response rates. The census takers will be working in the community over the next six weeks to count residents. All workers will be wearing masks due to the COVID-19 threat in the County. Residents still have just over 40 days left to respond to the national census.
Now for Caribbean News, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel says that local scientists at a Research Center in the country are working towards developing their own vaccine against COVID-19. Diaz-Canel said that the researchers and scientists are progressing in their creation of the vaccine and he is sure they will succeed. The Cuban government is also in talks to possibly produce and manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine, made by Russians. Earlier this week, Russia had announced the registration of the first COVID-19 vaccine in the world. The production of the vaccine could begin in Cuba as early as this November, according to Russia’s health ministry.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus has disrupted the operations of governments in The Bahamas and Guyana. Prime Minister of Bahamas, Dr Hubert Minnis, Deputy Prime Minister Kevin Peter Turnquest and Education Minister Jeff Lloyd, all entered voluntary self-quarantine on Wednesday after their offices were exposed to COVID-19. The cabinet office made the announcement that their offices along with the Ministry of health were shut down after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. All ministers of government and their employees have since been tested.
Similarly, in Guyana, all ministers including President Ifraan Ali will be working remotely after the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday. A massive contact tracing is now being done relating to Todd and all government ministers in Guyana have also been tested for the virus.
For more information on these and other stories, visit CNWNETWORK.com. Remember to pick up this week’s copy of our Caribbean National Weekly at your nearest Caribbean – American outlet.
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