Miami Beach declared Zika free
For the third time in the past three months Florida Governor Rick Scott has travelled to South Florida to declare specific regions free of the Zia Virus. As he has done in the case of Wynwood in the City of Miami, and the northern area of Miami Beach, Scott on Friday, December 9, at a press conference on Miami Beach, declared an area of the popular South Beach region free of Zika virus contaminations from mosquitoes.
Scott announced, since there have been no reports of Zika contamination in the previous Zika contamination zone for the past 45 days, state official decided to remove the Zika contamination zone on the South Beach area. The new Zika free area is a 1.5-square-mile area between Eighth and 28th Streets.
In making the announcement Scott said “Everybody should know this state is open for business.” He added that now tourist who wants to come to South Florida can do so, and businesses can resume normal operation.
However, amidst the community’s elation at the removal of the Zika zone status, Florida’s Surgeon General Celeste Philip, speaking at the press conference, urged caution. “We must remain on alert and continue all of the protective efforts that have led to this success,” Phillip said. She said there still could be isolated cases of Zika cases, and there is a likelihood of the virus reappearing when temperatures rise again next spring providing conditions conducive to the breeding of the mosquitoes that carry the virus. She also advised the public in the former Zika contaminated zones to drain standing water where mosquito breed, and use mosquito repellent especially when going outdoors at night.
The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia has also declared South Beach is no longer an active Zika transmission zone. But, the agency has retained Miami-Dade as a “cautionary area” is sensitive to Zika contamination although at a lower intensity.
It was also announced at last Friday’s press conference that the CDC has allocated an additional $4.9 million to assist Florida in its fight against Zika and the eradication of the Zika bearing mosquitoes.
The state’s Surgeon General also said, because Miami-Dade is a focal point for travelers from other countries there is always the risk people traveling from Zika infected countries could spawn the transmission of the virus in the county.
The Florida Department of Health has reported 307 Zika travel cases in Miami-Dade. The county has also been associated with some 222 of the 250 cases that were transmitted locally by mosquitoes in the state.
