AMENDMENT 2 TO MIAMI-DADE COUNTY EMERGENCY ORDER 18-20
WHEREAS, section 252.38(3)(a), Florida Statutes, gives political subdivisions the authority to declare and enact a State of Local 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 1, 2020, the Governor of Florida issued Executive Order Number 20-51, directing the State Health Officer and Surgeon General to declare a Public Health Emergency due to the discovery of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Florida; and
WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, the Governor of Florida issued Executive Order Number 20-52, declaring a State of Emergency for the State of Florida related to COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 12, 2020, the County Mayor declared a State of Emergency for all of Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, on April 3, 2020, the County Mayor issued Emergency Order 18-20, which required hospitals to report certain data to Miami-Dade County twice daily; and
WHEREAS, amendment no. 1 revised Emergency Order 18-20 to require hospitals to provide information only once daily, as opposed to twice daily in the original order; and
WHEREAS, since June 1, 2020, the data suggests that COVID-19 has begun to spread more rapidly through the community; and
WHEREAS, COVID-19 poses a health risk to Miami-Dade County residents, particularly elderly residents and those who are immunosuppressed or otherwise have high-risk medical conditions; and
WHEREAS, the County needs timely and accurate information to ensure its efforts to combat the virus are effective; and
WHEREAS, the County has hotel capacity in reserve for patients who do not need immediate medical care, but who may wish to quarantine away from their family; and
WHEREAS, such quarantine locations have been effective at slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Asia; and
WHEREAS, this amendment no. 2 to Emergency Order 18-20 requires hospitals to provide certain additional demographic information and information twice daily, as opposed to only once; and also instructs hospitals to inform both COVID-19 patients that do not require hospitalization, and individuals who have been tested for COVID-19 but are awaiting test results, that the County has hotel space available for voluntary quarantine, if desired by such individual,
THEREFORE, as County Mayor of Miami-Dade County, I hereby order:
A. Paragraph 1 of Emergency Order 18-20, as amended by amendment no. 1, is amended and restated, and a new paragraph 3 is added as follows:
B. The subsequent paragraphs of Emergency Order 18-20, as amended by amendment no. 1, are renumbered accordingly.
C. The provisions of this order shall serve as minimum standards. Municipalities may impose more stringent standards within their jurisdictions.
D. This amendment shall be provided to all appropriate media consistent with the requirements of section 8B-7(2)(n) of the Code of Miami-Dade County.