COVID conditions, restrictions force cancellation of March 8 meeting

Persistent complications of the COVID-19 pandemic have forced cancellation of the AMO membership meeting scheduled for March 8 at AMO headquarters in Dania Beach.

Public health authorities in Florida consider the coronavirus under control when the rate of new COVID-19 infections is below five percent. The statewide contagion rate since October 2020 has exceeded this level.

Local restrictions in Broward County and in Dania Beach prohibit gatherings of 10 or more when testing results in new cases exceeding 5 percent. The rate in Broward has hovered between six percent and 9 percent for several weeks. Test results reported this morning put the infection rate in the county at 6.62 percent, a slight increase over a day earlier.

Broward County reported 657 additional cases and four deaths, bringing its totals since mid-March 2020 to 196,771 cases and 2,463 deaths, including 41 non-residents.

In neighboring Palm Beach County to the North, the positivity rate was put at 6.41 percent, up from 5.41 percent the previous day.

In adjacent Miami-Dade County to the South, the new infection rate jumped from 4.87 percent to 10.07 percent in the one-day period.

In addition to restrictions in Broward County and Dania Beach, AMO members and other visitors remain subject to testing and potential quarantine upon arrival and - in many cases - upon return to their home states or to their jobs on vessels in port cities, where health precautions and protocols often vary widely.

As always in this last year, this administration's priorities are the health and safety of all AMO members - we do not want AMO members infected in South Florida to expose their families and/or their vessel officer and crew complements to the coronavirus. We stand in moral support of AMO members enduring COVID-19 consequences aboard ship, of those having to miss important family events at home, and of those who may now be supporting family members who have lost their jobs or small businesses in the COVID-19 economy.

In a related issue, AMO has yet to settle on a secure platform for virtual meetings, which are often marred by uninvited participants with unknown agendas.

Meanwhile, we will continue to do all we can to keep AMO members informed of important developments affecting our union.

Paul Doell
March 4, 2021