‘Unfortunately, I tested positive.’ Miami-Dade Mayor Levine Cava has 2nd case of COVID

Carli Teproff, Douglas Hanks
·2 min read
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Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Friday she is “quarantining at home” after testing positive for COVID-19 — for the second time since the pandemic began.

“This morning, I took a COVID-19 test as standard protocol after experiencing mild symptoms,” she said on Twitter. “Unfortunately, I tested positive. I ’m grateful that I’m fully vaccinated and boosted.”

Loren Parra, Levine Cava’s communications director, said the mayor began feeling ill Thursday afternoon.

Levine Cava did not wear a mask Thursday while speaking at an indoor symposium held by the Bilzin law firm, according to photos from the event.

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Parra said the mayor’s office is contacting organizers of events the mayor attended recently to notify them of possible exposure.

Federal CDC guidelines have loosened in terms of what people who are recently vaccinated or boosted for COVID-19 after possible exposure. The guidelines call for people to wear masks for 10 days and test, if possible, after five days. The mayor is following CDC guidelines, which call for someone who tests positive with symptoms to stay home for at least five days, then wear a mask for five days after that.

Under a Levine Cava order from late last year, masks are required in county buildings.

Recent days saw Levine Cava switch to a victory theme in her daily Twitter posts about county COVID statistics, which have been improving. On Feb. 14, when the daily rate of positive COVID tests dipped to 10% countywide, Levine Cava said on Twitter: “We’re beating Omicron.”

This is the second time that Levine Cava — who recently gave her state of the county address — has had the virus. In November 2020, Levine Cava announced she had tested positive and was experiencing mild symptoms.

In Friday’s message, Levine Cava, who lost her father Paul Levine to COVID in September 2021, stayed positive: “Miami-Dade has come a long way — our positivity rate is below 10% and we are finally seeing the light at the end of this dark tunnel.”