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Hundreds of residents of Miami’s Little Haiti section waited a cold night to collect a $ 250 gift card from the Publix supermarket on Friday morning as the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues to be felt in all the countries.
Pierre Casseos slept standing on a milk crate after waiting in line around 11 p.m. Thursday evening.
Casseos, an elderly man who walks with a cane and appears to be 60 or 70, said he slept outside so he could get the gift card.
Some 200 local residents ended up receiving the gift card.
Jeffrey Watson, a Miami city commissioner from District 5, which encompasses Little Haiti, a predominantly black area of the city, said: “ There is obviously a demand. We don’t have enough supplies.
Hundreds of people waited overnight to receive $ 250 grocery gift cards in Miami’s Little Haiti section on Friday morning
Some 200 people received $ 250 gift cards at Publix supermarkets
Some of Miami’s poorest and hardest-hit areas have seen residents wait hours for gift cards amid the economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic
Some people who waited for hours were told they could not receive the cards because they did not reside in Miami
This is the second time this week that hundreds of Miamiens are lining up overnight for the gift cards needed at the grocery store.
Some 500 people began lining up around Regatta Park near City Hall on Monday evening so they could get Publix gift cards on Tuesday morning, CBSMiami reported.
Some people waited with their children and pets while bundled up as temperatures plummeted into the 40s overnight.
“My coworker picked me up around 3:15 am and we got there around 3:50 am,” said Mabel Miller, who used her only day off to stand in line.
Some people online were turned down because they didn’t live within Miami city limits, while others turned up empty-handed because there simply weren’t enough Publix cards to deal out. .
Last month, hundreds of cars were spotted queuing for boxes of food at Miami’s Gwen Cherry Park
The boxes were being distributed by the Miami Marlins Foundation amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
Volunteers place food in car trunks at the food distribution center
“No more line everyone. I’m really sorry, but there are no more cards, ”announced Tuesday around 9 am.
The Grocery Gift Card Program was started by the City of Miami in conjunction with Publix Supermarkets. The initiative enables the distribution of $ 250 gift cards to struggling and food insecure Miami residents during the pandemic.
The sight of Floridians queuing for gift cards or food outside of food banks has been all too common since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Florida have increased dramatically over the past two months, and some epidemiologists fear those numbers may soon reach or exceed levels reached in the summer when the pandemic was at its peak.
After a dramatic three-month drop that began in July, confirmed cases in Florida started to rise again in October, two weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis removed almost all capacity restrictions on restaurants, bars and other businesses and bans cities and counties from fining local mask violators. prescriptions.
The increase has not slowed since Florida passed 1 million confirmed cases and 19,000 deaths this week.
Epidemiologists Cindy Prins of the University of Florida and Jason Salemi of the University of South Florida said on Friday that the lifting of restrictions has led some to stop taking proven and effective precautions like wearing masks and social distancing. .
A lot of people wanted to get back to normal.
“You’re tired of doing all of these things, you’re tired of COVID and so I think you’re starting to relax,” Salemi said.
“When the cases drop, people let their guard down,” Prins said.
DeSantis has said he will not reimpose the restrictions or require masks, although he encourages people to wear them and move away socially.
He believes that the economic and social damage caused by the restrictions outweighs the risk posed by the virus.
“I’m opposed to warrants, period. I don’t think they work, ” DeSantis said during his last public appearance on Nov. 30.
“There are stories that work. And they don’t.
The number of coronavirus cases in Florida has increased in recent weeks
Latest data shows sharp rise in COVID-19 deaths as well as hospitalizations
Florida reported its first cases on March 1, with numbers gradually increasing before skyrocketing in June, weeks after the first stay-at-home orders were released.
The epidemic peaked in mid-July, when nearly 14,000 new cases were reported daily and the number of Floridians hospitalized reached nearly 10,000.
The deaths, which are a few weeks behind, peaked in early August when 230 Floridians were dying from COVID-19 per day.
But then the numbers collapsed and by the end of September the number of daily reported cases had fallen to 2,800. Hospitalizations were around 2,200.
Prins and Salemi said many factors contributed to the decrease.
Counties and towns imposed mask warrants, there were restrictions on businesses and gatherings, and most importantly, Floridians were protecting themselves.
“People got really scared when we approached 10,000 hospitalizations” and 200 deaths per day, said Salemi.
“These are pretty amazing numbers.
Citing the improvement, DeSantis on September 25 lifted restrictions on the number of patrons restaurants and other businesses could have indoors, with a few exceptions for the hard-hit counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
And while DeSantis hasn’t repealed local decrees requiring masks, it has banned municipalities from imposing fines, leaving regulations toothless.
For two weeks, the numbers continued to drop, with cases hitting 2,200 per day in early October, an 85% decrease from peak. Hospitalizations fell to around 2,000, and by early November deaths had fallen to 42 per day.
But two weeks is also the incubation period for the virus and the numbers have since risen again, reaching 8,500 a day this week.
Hospitalizations now exceed 4,300 and the average number of deaths per day reported in the past week is 90.
Prins said one of the main reasons for the increase was the reopening of bars and restaurants at full capacity across much of the state.
People go there with friends, sitting side by side inside, thinking it’s safe.
“These are the places where transmissions can take place, especially bars – we have seen images of people grouped together,” she said.
John Horne, executive board member of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and owner of the Anna Maria Oyster Bar and other restaurants, said it was unfair to blame restaurants for the spread just because some owners didn’t take no precautions.
It stayed at 50% capacity and has an employee who sanitizes tables, menus, doors and more.
A bell rings every 30 minutes to remind employees to wash their hands. And while he sees other crowded places, consumers make the decision to enter them.
“I don’t think opening it 100% is what causes the spike. I think people travel a bit more and people are tired of wearing masks, they are tired of being locked up so a lot of people come out and come closer, ” he said.
Salemi said DeSantis has placed great emphasis on protecting vulnerable populations like the elderly, “but it certainly isn’t working. The average daily number of Floridians aged 65 and over reported with a new infection has increased by 81% in the past month.
With cases of the virus caught over Thanksgiving likely to emerge next week and in the run-up to Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years, Prins and Salemi fear Florida will soon be back to July levels and could them. exceed.
“When we get together over the holidays with our families, there will undoubtedly be some high-risk seniors – our parents and grandparents. They are the ones who are going to be infected, ”Salemi said.
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