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Miami Mayor Tests Positive for Coronavirus
Mayor Francis Suarez was tested after being in close contact with an aide to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, second from left, next to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil in Miami this week.Credit...Zak Bennett/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Published March 13, 2020Updated March 14, 2020, 9:25 a.m. ET
MIAMI — The scene was jarring: The mayor of a major American city communicated with the citizenry via video on a big screen at City Hall to deliver frightening news. He was placing himself in isolation in case he had contracted the coronavirus.
By the next day, his test results were in. Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami became on Friday one of the first American elected officials to confirm he has Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Mr. Suarez, 42, was tested after having come in close contact earlier this week with a top adviser to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil who disclosed his coronavirus diagnosis on Thursday. A delegation from the South American country had visited Florida and also met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate.
Mr. Bolsonaro said on Friday that he had tested negative, though people in the early stages of infection often do. The White House has said Mr. Trump does not need to be tested.
On Friday, Mr. Suarez said, “I feel completely healthy and strong” in a new video message.
He nevertheless asked anyone who had recently shaken hands with him to stay isolated for two weeks. “But you do not need to get tested,” he added.
Mr. Suarez said he would keep conducting city business remotely. The mayor became the second confirmed coronavirus case in Miami-Dade County and the 46th in the state, according to a running tally by The New York Times.
Miami declared a state of emergency on Thursday, with city commissioners holding a news conference at City Hall and Mr. Suarez appearing on a video screen behind them.
City leaders had previously come under criticism for ordering the early cancellations of large events, including the Ultra Music Festival, a long-running dance event with an international audience, and the Calle Ocho Festival, a large Hispanic street party in the Little Havana neighborhood. Other governments scrambled to follow suit on Thursday once Miami-Dade County took similar steps and Gov. Ron DeSantis cautioned against mass gatherings. Nearly 17 percent of Miami residents are 65 or older, and the coronavirus appears to most severely affect older people.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez, the county mayor who also mingled with the Brazil delegation, was also tested, but his result came back negative, he said in a text message on Friday. Senator Rick Scott, who met with Mr. Bolsonaro in Miami on Monday, has been in isolation as a precaution. Mr. Suarez and Mr. Bolsonaro appeared at a business conference on Tuesday at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Miami.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/coronavirus-miami-francis-suarez.html
Mayor Francis Suarez was tested after being in close contact with an aide to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, second from left, next to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil in Miami this week.Credit...Zak Bennett/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Published March 13, 2020Updated March 14, 2020, 9:25 a.m. ET
MIAMI — The scene was jarring: The mayor of a major American city communicated with the citizenry via video on a big screen at City Hall to deliver frightening news. He was placing himself in isolation in case he had contracted the coronavirus.
By the next day, his test results were in. Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami became on Friday one of the first American elected officials to confirm he has Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Mr. Suarez, 42, was tested after having come in close contact earlier this week with a top adviser to President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil who disclosed his coronavirus diagnosis on Thursday. A delegation from the South American country had visited Florida and also met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate.
Mr. Bolsonaro said on Friday that he had tested negative, though people in the early stages of infection often do. The White House has said Mr. Trump does not need to be tested.
On Friday, Mr. Suarez said, “I feel completely healthy and strong” in a new video message.
He nevertheless asked anyone who had recently shaken hands with him to stay isolated for two weeks. “But you do not need to get tested,” he added.
Mr. Suarez said he would keep conducting city business remotely. The mayor became the second confirmed coronavirus case in Miami-Dade County and the 46th in the state, according to a running tally by The New York Times.
Miami declared a state of emergency on Thursday, with city commissioners holding a news conference at City Hall and Mr. Suarez appearing on a video screen behind them.
City leaders had previously come under criticism for ordering the early cancellations of large events, including the Ultra Music Festival, a long-running dance event with an international audience, and the Calle Ocho Festival, a large Hispanic street party in the Little Havana neighborhood. Other governments scrambled to follow suit on Thursday once Miami-Dade County took similar steps and Gov. Ron DeSantis cautioned against mass gatherings. Nearly 17 percent of Miami residents are 65 or older, and the coronavirus appears to most severely affect older people.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez, the county mayor who also mingled with the Brazil delegation, was also tested, but his result came back negative, he said in a text message on Friday. Senator Rick Scott, who met with Mr. Bolsonaro in Miami on Monday, has been in isolation as a precaution. Mr. Suarez and Mr. Bolsonaro appeared at a business conference on Tuesday at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Miami.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/coronavirus-miami-francis-suarez.html
