‘HE WILL BE MISSED’

Second LGBTQ Miami Festival Attendee Dies of Coronavirus

Several people reported experiencing flu-like symptoms after attending the festival, which brought together as many as 10,000 people.

A second person who attended the Miami Beach Winter Party in early March has died of the novel coronavirus. Several other attendees of the LGBTQ festival, which brought together as many as 10,000 people, began experiencing flu-like symptoms after the event, which took place from March 4-10. Ron Rich was a longtime volunteer with the National LGBTQ Task Force. “Ron was a familiar face to the guests who attended the Task Force Gala, Winter Party Festival and our Fort Lauderdale house parties over the past five years as his big smile and warmth had him mostly serving on our hospitality team,” the Task Force wrote in a Facebook post. Israel Carreras, 40, was the first festival attendee to die from the virus last week.