Governor Rick Scott was back in Miami Monday where the focus remains on fighting Zika.
There are no new locally transmitted cases of Zika today.
However, the are still growing concerns across South Florida after the governor confirmed those 5 cases of non-travel related Zika linked to Miami Beach.
Monday afternoon, Governor Scott announced that the state will be sending more money to Miami-Dade County to help with this on going battle against Zika.
Since June, the governor has been holding these roundtable discussions across the state, but Monday’s meeting comes with new concerns now that Miami Beach has been linked to local Zika transmissions.
It’s the second location in the county where officials believe people have contracted the virus locally.
The governor's administration was in full force at Monday’s roundtable meeting in Miami. State Surgeon General Celeste Philip and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam attended.
Local Miami-Dade County leaders were also in attendance, including Miami Beach’s mayor, Philip Levine. Levine has publicly criticized the governor for not properly informing his administration about the non-travel related cases in Miami Beach before making the information public.
“The ten-thousand pound gorilla in the room which is communication,” said Philip at the meeting. “You know the mayor alluded to it but I’ll probably be a little more direct. I think it’s important that myself, the city manager and our counter parts at the county are getting timely accurate information as fast as possible.”
After the roundtable meeting, Governor Scott didn’t respond directly to reporters’ questions about whether his office should have notified the mayor's administration first.
“We are going to put out information as quickly as we can when its confirmed,” said Scott. “On Friday morning, what was confirmed by the department of health, we immediately came down here. We changed our schedule and put out that information. I’m going to make sure there is accurate and timely information.”
Another focus at the meeting was the crippling impact the Zika maps have had on the Wynwood district’s economy.
