State health officials, Thursday, reported the largest single-day increase in cases of the coronavirus in Florida since the pandemic began. The 1,698 new cases reported yesterday brings the statewide total to 69,069 confirmed cases.
With the exception of this past Monday, the single-day increase in COVID-19 cases in Florida has topped 1,000 every day since June 3.
The Florida Department of Health also reported 47 new coronavirus-related deaths, Thursday, increasing the state's death toll to 2,848 fatalities, including 1,487 deaths in long-term care facilities.
The total number of hospitalizations in Florida due to the virus now stands at 11,571 patients. Of the 1,307,728 tests that have been performed in the state so far, 5.3 percent have been positive for the virus.
Here in the Southwest Florida region including Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Manatee, Lee and Sarasota Counties, state health officials reported 181 new cases of the virus, Thursday and seven new deaths including one new death in Sarasota County and two new fatalities each in Lee, Manatee and Collier Counties.
Using money Florida received from the federal CARES Act, Governor Ron DeSantis says the state has a “road map” to open schools for the fall.
He debuted the plan in Brevard County Thursday, alongside local officials and state education commissioner Richard Corcoran.
DeSantis says that federal money will also go toward summer programs that look to close the achievement gap, which the governor says widened under COVID-19 closures.
“We’ve been able to provide a road map to announce the return of our schools to on-campus instruction, and to bring long-term improvements to the instructional continuity, using the federal funds provided through the CARES Act, to make significant investments in our education system,” the governor said.
Through the CARES act money earmarked for education in Florida, the state received more than $770 million meant for K-12 schools. The Department of Education says of that money, it can “directly spend” $475 million.
About $173 million will be held for emergency flexible funding for districts, and $223 million will go to early learning initiatives.
Corcoran and DeSantis both expressed a desire for schools to open at their full capacity.
"We want schools fully open in the fall,” Corcoran said, “because there is no better way to educate than to have that great teacher in front of that child."
The state Department of Education published its 100-plus page reopening plan today. It includes guidance for districts on response to confirmed coronavirus cases. It also directs districts to draw up an “instructional continuity plan,” as DOE advises there are “no guarantees that education will go uninterrupted in the 2020-2021 academic year.”
And, if parents elect not to send their students back based on concerns about COVID-19 spread, the agency says: “If some families still do not return in August, districts and schools must work to close any potential gaps in learning for those students.”
DeSantis stressed Thursday that he believes reopening plans, varying by district, are best left to the districts themselves:
“We believe those are locally-driven decisions. We believe what that looks like may look different in Brevard than it does in Miami-Dade, then it does in Baker County.”
Meanwhile, the statewide teachers union the Florida Education Association responded in a statement to the state's plan, saying "safety must remain top priority" in any reopening plan.
“Ultimately, parents in local communities throughout the state will decide how and when schools reopen,” said FEA President Fedrick Ingram. “No matter what dictates come down from Tallahassee, students will not return to schools until parents have confidence their child and their child’s teachers will be safe and protected.”
More than $870 million in CARES Act money will go toward higher education.
DeSantis broke down where some of that CARES Act funding will go specifically:
$64 million for summer programs for grades K-5, with concentration on reading curriculum
$20 million to help schools identify and adopt reading curriculum and supplemental instructional materials in grades K-13
$15 million to train and develop 2,000 new reading coaches
$16.9 million to child care providers that agree to reopen as part of the state’s reopening plan
$20.9 million for a transition-to-Kindergarten program
$45 million in safety net funds, including money to protect Florida Tax Credit scholarships
$8 million aimed at allowing every graduate in 2020-2021 to take SAT and ACT tests for free
$35 million to increase capacity at short-term, in-demand market certificate programs at state colleges & technical colleges
$10.9 million for career and technical education grants
Lee County School officials announced Thursday that the district will no longer do business with Oakes Farms of Naples. Oakes Farms owner, Alfie Oakes, stirred up controversy, Monday, when he posted on Facebook his belief that both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement are hoaxes. In a news release, the Lee County School District announced that it will soon be working with other vendors so that students will be supplied with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Florida's troubled unemployment system could create problems for Republicans working to secure a second term for President Donald Trump. Hundreds of thousands of Florida workers are still angry over ongoing delays in getting unemployment checks. The AP reports, the question now is how many of Florida's more than two million newly unemployed people will bring that anger to the voting booth this November, as they make their selections in races from the state legislature to the White House.
While Republican leaders are defending Governor Ron DeSantis' handling of the unemployment benefits fiasco, Democrats hope to elevate the state's unemployment struggles into a broader debate about who has the best interests of working people in mind.
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried has planned to reopen a Tallahassee regional licensing office on Monday. The office has been shut down since March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Among other things, the office runs fingerprint checks for concealed weapons permits. The office will be open by appointment only, and enhanced safety protocols will be followed by employees doing the fingerprinting.
In March, the Department of Agriculture also suspended online concealed carry applications due to COVID-19, leading to a recent lawsuit filed against the agency. The law suit alleges Fried’s actions make it more difficult for people to defend themselves. Speaking at the licensing office, Thursday, Fried said the lawsuit has nothing to do with next week’s re-opening.
“There is a lawsuit that is pending. It has absolutely no impact on our operations. It has no impact on our decisions to open up today,” said Fried. “I certainly, as an attorney, do not follow the whims of a frivolous lawsuit on our decisions and policymaking.”
Beyond the Department of Agriculture, concealed weapons permit fingerprinting can also be done at law enforcement agencies or approved tax collectors offices, some of which have remained open in recent months.
According to Fried, more than 100,000 concealed weapons license applications have been processed since March 1, and more than 84,000 permits have been issued or renewed. Fried said there have been about one third fewer filed since March of this year, compared to last.
Two more theme parks that have been closed since March amid the pandemic have reopened. SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay reopened Thursday.
Reservations are required in order to limit capacity and allow for social distancing. SeaWorld will be closed for extra cleaning on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Busch Gardens will do the same on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Visitors over the age of two are required to wear masks and all visitors will be subject to temperature screening before entering.
