Miami-Dade’s new mayor tests positive for COVID-19, starts quarantine

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and is experiencing mild symptoms. The county’s new mayor linked her diagnosis to her husband, a doctor, contracting the virus from exposure to a patient last week during a house call.

Levine Cava, 65, revealed the test result on a Twitter post Monday afternoon. She said she’s “quarantining at home” with her husband, Dr. Robert Cava. A spokeswoman, Rachel Johnson, said Levine Cava has not been in contact with county employees since Wednesday and plans to participate in Tuesday’s County Commission meeting remotely.

As the county’s top administrator, Levine Cava oversees Miami-Dade’s COVID-19 response, and her diagnosis makes the mayor part of a worsening spread of the virus that has seen hospitalization numbers rise across the county.

“My thoughts are with all the doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, police and fire rescue workers across our community who continue to serve and protect Miami-Dade residents despite great personal risk to themselves and their loved ones,” Levine Cava wrote on Twitter at 6:07 p.m.

In an interview Monday night, a congested Levine Cava said she was feeling the effects of COVID but kept up a full schedule of meetings throughout the day by phone and through online video sessions. “It’s like a cold so far,” she said. “Yesterday afternoon, I started coughing. Then it progressed to sneezing and a runny nose. I looked up the symptoms. As I’ve been telling people, in this day and age it’s COVID until proven otherwise.”

The positive test result comes three days after Levine Cava’s predecessor, Carlos Gimenez, announced he and his wife, Lourdes, had tested positive for COVID-19. The former mayor, now a congressman-elect, said he was experiencing mild symptoms as well. Levine Cava posted well wishes to the Gimenezes on Saturday, and Gimenez did the same Monday. “Lourdes and I are sending our prayers for a speedy recovery @MayorDaniella. May you and Dr. Cava continue to feel well,” read a post on Gimenez’s Twitter account.

The mayor said Dr. Cava, a private practice internist, was exposed to a patient Wednesday who later tested positive for COVID-19. Dr. Cava, also 65, received a positive test result Monday, followed by Levine Cava. Their diagnosis followed a three-day canoeing trip through the Everglades that started Thanksgiving and ended Saturday night. “We paddled about 40 miles,” she said.

Levine Cava issued a memo Thursday saying she would be out of the office through Sunday, delegating her authority to a top deputy, chief financial officer Ed Marquez. The memos are used when a mayor will be traveling out of town. Levine Cava said she hadn’t been in the office since Wednesday, and that her husband saw the patient at home on Wednesday night.

The mayor said she maintained a full workday on Monday, including a virtual meeting with senior staff at 2 p.m., and planned to participate in an online event with a Haitian-American group Monday evening.

The schedule also included a meeting with leaders of the NAACP and Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales, the Levine Cava hire for a senior administrative post who has been criticized for the city police force’s treatment of Black tourists and residents. Levine Cava said it was a “very productive meeting” and that a joint statement was expected soon.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance for healthy people with COVID-19 but not severe symptoms recommends a 10-day quarantine period after symptoms appear, provided the person has gone at least 24 hours without a fever. Levine Cava said she planned a 10-day quarantine, and would continue to participate in county business remotely. “I’ll be virtual,” she said. “We know how to do that, don’t we?”

This is Levine Cava’s second full week in office after taking over from Gimenez on Nov. 17. Her tenure began as Miami-Dade was in the midst of a rise in daily COVID-19 cases, and the trends continued to worsen Monday. Hospitals reported 796 COVID-19 patients, up from fewer than 600 two weeks ago. About 10% of the coronavirus tests came back positive on Monday, up from 6% at the end of October.

Based on statistics, Levine Cava is a typical COVID-19 case in Miami-Dade because she likely contracted the disease at home.

An Oct. 2 summary on contact-tracing data, culled from state investigators interviewing people who tested positive for COVID-19, found 32% of the people surveyed reported catching COVID-19 from someone at home. The second highest reported source was the workplace, where the mayor’s husband said he was exposed to COVID-19. Contact-tracing data identified healthcare as the top workplace category for COVID exposure in Miami-Dade.

In her statement, Levine Cava described herself as more at risk because of her husband’s occupation.

“Our family is no different from the thousands of other families at heightened risk of exposure due to the sacrifice of healthcare workers and first responders on the front lines...,” she wrote. “I’m more grateful than ever for their bravery.”

Levine Cava, who has been critical of Florida’s contact-tracing operation as inadequate for Miami-Dade’s peak case loads, said she was promptly contacted by a contact-tracer on Monday. Levine Cava said all of her contacts after her likely exposure were personal acquaintances, and she had already contacted them. She said she gave the contact tracer the information as well. “She was very nice,” Levine Cava said. “I want to make sure people understand the importance of participating with contact tracing.”