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Miami Mayor Francis Suarez tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, four days after the mayor attended a local event with a Brazilian government official who later tested positive for the virus. The 42-year old mayor became one of the first U.S. elected officials to learn he had COVID-19 and enter isolation.
Suarez was one of several politicians, including Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Sen. Rick Scott and President Donald Trump, who interacted with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his staff during a visit to South Florida last week. Fabio Wajngarten, press secretary to Bolsonaro, tested positive on Thursday after returning to Brazil, and Suarez went into isolation Thursday after learning of Wajngarten’s results. Suarez was in the same room as Wajngarten and Bolsonaro on two occasions Monday during the Brazilian delegation’s visit.
The mayor’s announcement rippled through the top levels of Miami’s municipal government Friday, forcing city commissioners and top administrators into self-quarantine and sparking increased concerns over the spread of the virus in Miami.
The news also triggered a round of testing for City Hall. The Miami-Dade health department started testing elected officials and administrators Friday to make sure the city government can continue to run without a leadership interruption. The city did not release names of those who were tested.
“Today, the Department of Fire-Rescue facilitated this normal process to ensure the continuity of government operations and essential functions,” read a statement from the city. “Privacy laws prohibit the release of any information that may lead to the identification of patients.”
Some city commissioners publicly shared they were tested or scheduled for a test. Others outside the city government who met with the Brazilian delegation announced self-quarantines and tests. Scott self-isolated. Early Friday, Gimenez confirmed he tested negative for COVID-19. He said he plans to remain self-isolated for up to 14 days.
Before learning of Wajngarten’s positive test, Suarez was scheduled to make a public appearance and declare a state of emergency for the city of Miami. Instead, he made the announcement by video, waited until City Hall cleared out, then was taken to be tested, at the request of health officials.
Suarez confirmed the positive test Friday morning in an interview with the Miami Herald.
“It is confirmed that I have the coronavirus,” Suarez said. “I did test positive for it.”
Friday evening, the mayor said he is feeling good overall, with some slight aches and symptoms that felt “like the onset of a cold.” He had earlier told the Herald he was most concerned with those who have been in his close proximity in recent days.
“I’m concerned for people who have had some measure of contact with me,” he said.
He issued a statement early Friday asking those who have interacted with him to take precautions.
“If we did not shake hands or you did not come into contact with me if I coughed or sneezed, there is no action you need to take whatsoever,” he said. “If we did, however, touch or shake hands, or if I sneezed or coughed near you since Monday, it is recommended that you self-isolate for 14 days, but you do not need to get tested. After speaking with medical personnel, I will continue to follow Department of Health protocol and remain isolated while I lead our government remotely.”
Suarez tested positive less than 24 hours after he sat on the dais in City Hall for a commission meeting. The mayor sat next to City Manager Art Noriega and City Attorney Victoria Méndez.
Top-level city administrators who were in close contact with the mayor have been told to self-isolate, including Police Chief Jorge Colina. Government workers who do not need to be physically present at city offices are going to work from home. Commissioners Ken Russell, Alex Diaz de la Portilla, Manolo Reyes and Joe Carollo have confirmed they are isolating themselves. It is not clear if commission chairman Keon Hardemon is in self-quarantine.
“My mother is 92 years old, and she lives with us. This is extremely scary for her,” Carollo said. In a phone interview, he said he was standing outside his residence, keeping a distance from his wife, who helps care for his mother.
Carollo said he came into close contact with Suarez three times Thursday, close enough where they could smell each other’s breath. Carollo and Reyes were expected to be tested Friday.
Russell said he attended an event with the mayor earlier in the week, and he’d shaken hands with residents at some community meetings out of force of habit.
“I’ve been trying to avoid it, but a lot of people come up to you and shake your hand,” Russell said.
Scenes from City Hall on Thursday reinforced the difficulty with breaking normal social protocols or even personal tics.
On at least three occasions, Suarez could be seen touching his face on a video stream of the commission meeting. At one point, Suarez walked behind the dais and appeared to make contact with Carollo before kneeling down to speak with him. Carollo was later seen touching his face near his eye.
Other commissioners, including Hardemon and Russell, also touched their faces during the meeting. Outside in the lobby, some people still opted to shake hands instead of waves or elbow-bumps, although many kept wider distances and several sanitized their hands often.
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Suarez went to his Coconut Grove home, where he will self-isolate for two weeks while his wife and children stay with extended family.
Xavier Suarez, the Miami mayor’s father and a county commissioner who is running for mayor in 2020, said Friday night both he and his wife, Rita, a teacher at Sunset Elementary, tested negative for COVID-19.
“My wife & I tested negative!” Suarez, a former Miami mayor, posted on Twitter at 9:23 p.m.
Suarez told Miami Herald news partner WLRN that he plans to journal his experience in isolation through videos on Twitter.
“What I want to do is kind of have a diary where I share with everybody what I’m going through, what I’m feeling,” he said in a video he posted Friday evening.
City Hall, at 3500 Pan American Dr., is where the elected officials and the city clerk run their offices, but most municipal services are headquartered at the Miami Riverside Center downtown. Noriega said the city has instituted a broad work-from-home policy for city workers, and administrators are working to move certain city processes that require in-person appearances at the downtown building to the web.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 11:37 AM.
