MIAMI-DADE COUNTY EMERGENCY ORDER 02-21

WHEREAS, section 252.38(3)(a), Florida Statutes, gives a political subdivision the authority to declare and enact a Local State of Emergency for a period of up to seven days, thereby waiving the procedures and formalities otherwise required of the political subdivision by law; and

WHEREAS, on March 12, 2020, the County Mayor declared a Local State of Emergency for all of Miami-Dade County, which has been subsequently extended every seven days; and

WHEREAS, effective vaccines against COVID-19 have been widely available for several months; and

WHEREAS, the Delta variant of the virus, also known as the B.1.617.2. variant, is highly contagious, and is estimated to account for more than 80 percent of new infections in the United States; and

WHEREAS, since June 11, 2021, the data suggests that COVID-19 has begun to spread more rapidly through the community according to weekly averages reported by the Florida Department of Health; and

WHEREAS, between June 11 and July 22, 2021, Miami-Dade County’s average number of positive persons per day has grown from a low of 300 to a high of 1,500, a 500 percent growth over a six-week period; and

WHEREAS, hospitalizations resulting from COVID-19 infections are also rising according to data from the Florida Department of Health, with an increase from 3 admissions per 100 in-patient beds the week of June 11 to 12.3 admissions per 100 in-patient beds the week of July 16; and

WHEREAS, the County needs timely and accurate information to ensure its efforts to combat the virus are effective; and

WHEREAS, this emergency order requires hospitals to provide certain demographic information once a day,

THEREFORE, as County Mayor of Miami-Dade County, I hereby order:

1. Commencing on July 30, 2021, each hospital shall report to the Miami-Dade COVID-19 Reporting Hub once a day, by 10:00 a.m., the following information to the County: (1) current staffed inventory of General Acute Care beds (does not include OB, pediatric or specialty/rehab); (2) current staffed inventory of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds; (3) total number of unused beds at the hospital which could be converted to be used as ICU beds; (4) total number of beds that can be converted to General Acute Care beds; (5) total number of ventilators in hospital inventory; (6) total number of ventilators in use for all patients (including patients not admitted for COVID-19); (7) total COVID-19 positive patients admitted; (8) total COVID-19 positive patients in ICU beds; (9) total COVID-19 positive patients in non-ICU beds; (10) total COVID-19 positive patients currently on a ventilator, (11) new COVID-19 positive patients admitted since the prior day’s reporting; (12) COVID-19 positive patients discharged since the prior day’s reporting; (13) if available, the number of COVID-19 positive patients admitted who had been fully vaccinated (two weeks post final dose); and (14) if available, the number of COVID-19 positive patients admitted who were unvaccinated or not yet fully vaccinated (two weeks post final dose).
2. Each hospital shall be responsible for providing the above information solely with respect to its physical campus. No hospital shall transmit any individually identifiable patient health information which may not be disclosed pursuant to federal or state law. If a hospital believes that all or some of this information is trade secret, as defined in Florida Statutes, the hospital shall expressly indicate this when it transmits this information.
3. This order shall be effective as of 1:00 p.m., July 29, 2021.
4. This order shall expire upon the expiration of the existing Miami-Dade County of Local State of Emergency, provided however that if the Local State of Emergency is extended, this order shall also be deemed to extend for the duration of such extension. This order may be cancelled earlier by action of the County Mayor.
5. This order shall be provided to all appropriate media consistent with the requirements of section 8B-7(2)(n) of the Code of Miami-Dade County, to all hospitals within Miami-Dade County, and to the Board of County Commissioners consistent with the requirements of section 8B-7(3).