Miami ABC Affiliate WPLG-TV Reports 9 Coronavirus Cases

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL — An emotional Nicole Perez fought back tears during the 6 p.m. newscast of WPLG-TV Wednesday as the affable anchor of Miami's ABC affiliate tried to find the right words to describe the concern she was feeling for her husband, who along with Perez tested positive for the new coronavirus earlier this week.

"The hardest part for me I think is worrying a lot about him," Perez said, her voice filling with emotion as she appeared from the couple's apartment alongside husband, Roy Ramos, a reporter at WPLG.

The couple are both fitness buffs who have been self-quarantined at their home as has fellow anchor Louis Aguirre, who also tested positive for the disease this week.

The station said nine staffers tested positive for the illness this week, including all three on-air personalities.

Perez’s co-anchor, Calvin Harris, was conducting the interview of Perez and her husband when Harris asked Perez: “How concerned are you for your husband?”

She was overcome with emotion and couldn’t respond.

Ramos, who had been having difficulty breathing, was on his way to the hospital for a chest X-Ray to determine if he had developed coronavirus-related pneumonia. The station confirmed Thursday Ramos was suffering from pneumonia but his oxygen levels were high enough that he could go home. He was given steroids and antibiotics.

“For me, over the past few days, it’s been difficult, especially at night it’s hard for me to sleep,” Ramos shared on Wednesday. “It’s really hard for me to maintain a steady body temperature. What happens with me is I’ll cover myself and then I’ll start to sweat. I take the covers off and then I’ll start to go into chills and body aches.”

He told viewers his symptoms were particularly worrisome Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

“In the morning I started coughing so bad that I couldn’t catch my breath,” he said. “It went on for about 15 minutes or so.”

Perez, who once finished first in a bodybuilding competition, said she lost her sense of taste and smell while experiencing congestion and a cough. She also said she was experiencing bouts of tiredness but less so than in previous days. The station reported Thursday that Perez was also suffering from nausea and a bad headache.

Aguirre, a former anchor on “The Insider” syndicated news magazine, was planning to be retested to see if he may have drawn a false positive on the first test, according to Harris.

“I have not felt sick,” Aguirre said. “This is a very subjective virus. It affects each of us very differently depending on our physiology and our immune system,” he said. “I’m hoping that I’m one of the lucky ones that gets to experience a mild case of this.”

Harris said WPLG tested 97 employees and family members on Wednesday in addition to 57 tested on Monday and Tuesday.

Most of the WPLG staff has been working offsite since the pandemic began. Social distancing and masks are required at the station.

“We hope nine cases is the end of the outbreak at our TV station but in reality, we expect more cases,” Harris said. “This is not a political message here; this is a personal one: Please, please wear your mask.”