Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Zika Travel Advisory Widens To Miami Beach After More Local Transmission Cases Confirmed
As local government and tourism officials emphasized that the safety of residents, workers and guests came first, it was hard to sidestep the obvious: Would tourists stay away from the island鈥檚 alluring beaches, hip hotels and just-about-anything-goes clubs? And if they did, what would it mean for the economy of Miami Beach 鈥 the superstar of the county鈥檚 $36 billion tourism industry? (Alvarez and Madigan, 8/20)
There are five new local cases of Zika in Miami Beach and a new 1.5-square-mile transmission zone from the beach to the Intracoastal Waterway, Florida Gov. Rick Scott confirmed Friday during a Miami visit to talk about the virus.聽The new cases involve three tourists and two local residents, Scott said during a news conference. The new zone runs from Eighth Street to 28th Street in Miami Beach, he said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with Florida health department, quickly issued a travel advisory after the news conference, telling pregnant women to avoid the Miami Beach Zika transmission area. (Chang, 8/19)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott confirmed Friday that the聽Zika virus is being聽spread locally by mosquitoes in聽Miami Beach, a development that marks an expansion of the outbreak in South Florida and immediately prompted a new travel advisory by federal officials. "We believe we have a new area where local transmissions are occurring in Miami Beach,鈥 Scott said at a noon press conference. The suspect zone covers about 1.5 square miles between 8th and 28th streets, and between the beach and the intracoastal waterway -- a stretch that encompasses the聽city's central tourist area. (Dennis, 8/19)
That decision to issue a warning about the entire city was prompted by the agency's concern that there may be other outbreaks in other parts of Miami-Dade that haven't been identified yet, CDC Director Thomas Frieden told reporters during a briefing. "What we are doing is stepping back and saying, 'There have now been multiple instances of local transmission,'" Frieden said. "We will always err on providing more information to the public." (Stein, 8/19)
The affected area of聽Miami Beach includes South Beach and stretches from the beach to the Intracoastal Waterway, from 8th Street to 28th Street. The聽neighborhood is several miles away and on the other side of Biscayne Bay from Wynwood, the first Miami neighborhood to experience a Zika outbreak.People who live in or who have traveled to this part of South Beach since July 14 should be "aware of active Zika virus transmission," the CDC said. (Szabo and Freeman, 8/19)
A spokeswoman for the C.D.C. said that the agency is required to comply with a state鈥檚 wishes about how broadly to draw the boundaries of areas it advises people not to travel to. But agency officials clearly want to sound the alarm about possible Zika spread in a much larger area of South Florida. In announcing the new cases on Friday, Governor said the new area in Miami Beach is just under 1.5 square miles and is between Eighth and 28th Streets from the beach to the intracoastal on Miami Beach, an area that includes the heart of the South Beach neighborhood, one of South Florida鈥檚 biggest tourist attractions. (Alvarez and Belluck, 8/19)