COVID-19 cases and positivity rates are climbing in the Florida Keys: 33 new cases were reported Monday and the 14-day average for positivity is more than 7 percent.
Bob Eadie, the Monroe County administrator for the state Department of Health, said the increasing number of cases makes contact tracing and controlling the virus more of a challenge.
"We are getting to be swamped right now just because of the staff that we have, and all of the staff that we had before have been pulled back by the state," he said.
Eadie said there is some action local governments can take: to protect people and set an example.
"It is my strong recommendation that any public body that can meet virtually, should be," he told local public officials at a Monroe County Emergency Management check-in call Monday.
Both the Key West and Monroe County commissions had planned meetings where a quorum of the officials would be together in person and the public could attend. Both announced Monday that the meetings would go back to online-only.
