The city of Miami experienced its first seven-week period without a single homicide since 1957 — thanks to its coronavirus lockdown, according to a report last Friday.
Although the pandemic is terrifying and tragic, there are some positive side effects to everybody being indoors. Nature is flourishing, air pollution has dramatically reduced, fish are returning to rivers and canals where they haven’t been seen in years.
And now Miami has gone the longest time without a homicide in over 60 years!
Not one person had their life abruptly ended at the hands of someone else in the Magic City between February 17 and April 12 — a total of seven weeks and six days, CBS News reported.
“We can say that it’s due to our police high visibility, attributed with the pandemic and the stay at home order,” a Miami Police Department spokesperson told CBS News.
That’s the longest homicide-free stretch the city has seen in 63 years. In 1957, the city went 9 weeks and 3 days without any reported homicides. In 1960, it experienced a stretch of 6 weeks and 5 days.
To slow the spread of coronavirus, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez declared a state of emergency on March 12 and issued the stay-at-home order.
Other violent crimes have also plunged in Miami, as well as in other cities, according to CBS News. In Baltimore, common assaults dropped 34 percent amid the quarantine, and in Los Angeles homicides decreased 21 percent.
In the Big Apple, major felonies fell 17 percent between March 16 and March 22, the week Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered schools to close to prevent the spread of contagion.
Florida has had other good news too, with endangered baby turtles numbers growing every day.
The number of leatherback sea turtle nests have skyrocketed compared to last year.
Only 2 weeks into the summer nesting season of 2020, staff at the Loggerhead Marine Life Center have found and marked 76 nesting sites for the leatherback—a “significant increase” over last year’s count along the 9 and ½ mile beach.
With no dogs or people walking over nests and exposing eggs, there’s a good chance the eggs will survive the 60 days until hatch day.
“Our leatherbacks are coming in strong this year. We’re excited to see our turtles thrive in this environment,” Sarah Hirsch told West Palm Beach’s WPEC-TV news.
“Our world has changed, but these turtles have been doing this for millions of years and it’s just reassuring and gives us hope that the world is still going on.”
By the end of the nesting season, if the increased numbers continue, it could provide a valuable boost for the vulnerable species.