Thursday marked another record high day for coronavirus-related deaths in Florida with health officials reporting 156 fatalities. Thursday’s deaths mark an 18 percent increase over the previous single-day high of 132 deaths reported Tuesday.
The statewide death toll now stands at 4,782 fatalities. Florida's seven-day average for deaths grew to more than 95 a day, Thursday, which is more than double the daily death average less than two weeks ago.
The Florida Department of Health also reported the second highest number of new cases of the virus in a day with 13,965 cases, increasing the total to 315,775 cases. Yesterday marked the 23rd consecutive day Florida has seen at least 5,000 new cases reported in a single day.
State health officials reported 491 new coronavirus-related hospitalizations, July 16, for a total of 19,825 hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic.
80.5% of Florida's total COVID-19 caseload has come since phase two of Gov. Ron DeSantis's reopening plan went into effect June 5.
Of the 2,819,000 tests that have been performed in Florida so far, 11.2% have been positive for the virus. The seven-day average positivity rate declined slightly, Thursday, to 15.3%.
Here in the Southwest Florida region including Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota Counties, state health officials reported 1,572 new coronavirus cases, Thursday, for a total of 31,025 cases. There were also five new deaths in the Southwest Florida region, July 16, including four new deaths in Manatee County and one new fatality in Collier County for a total of 660 deaths.
Florida is among 18 states in the U.S. identified in the "red zone" due to high COVID-19 positivity test rates according to an unpublished report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force obtained, Thursday, by the Center for Public Integrity.
The report says wearing masks should be mandatory and that new restrictions should be placed on businesses like gyms in restaurants in 12 metro areas of the state and 12 counties including Lee and Collier.
The report also recommends crackdowns in Broward, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange, Pasco, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Polk Counties.
Florida Democrats say the state needs to take a "step back for safety." That's the name of a plan Democrats say would include scaling back the state's reopening phase, delaying the start of the school year and implementing a statewide mask requirement in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. State Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami, said stepping back now means less risk of backsliding in the future.
“What we’re saying is we have to take a step back now. If we don’t take a step back now, and look they won’t have very much control over whether this happens or not, is we will have to close this economy down again,” said Sen. Braynon.
He said Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican state officials have moved too quickly to open the state's economy. Democrats say reverting to a phase one reopening could keep businesses operating and slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran’s directive that schools must reopen for in-person classes next month unless local health officials say otherwise, has been met with confusion, worry and fear. Some school districts are already breaking from it by signaling they’ll start the school year with digital learning. Gov. DeSantis appeared to distance himself from Corcoran’s directive as well.
“It should not be dictated by the Department of Education,” said DeSantis.
“I think they can recommend, but ultimately we want every school district to do what’s best for the kids.”
Increased anxiety over the return of students to classrooms comes amid rising coronavirus infections and deaths. Some teachers are signaling they’ll take early retirements or a leave of absence if they have to return to physical classes. Many school districts are offering parents the option of keeping their kids home and taking online courses, or returning to in-person environments.
A national union for educators, school personnel, and nurses is calling on members of Congress to get back to Washington and fund schools.
Congress is expected to reconvene this coming Monday after a Fourth of July recess.
A new $1 million national ad campaign from the American Federation of Teachers pressures Congress to support more money to help schools reopen safely – and urges people in Florida to call Sen. Marco Rubio.
"We can't afford for our children's education to be another victim of the coronavirus. Tell your senator to come back to Washington and support emergency education funding," the ad says.
In the Florida-focused version of the video campaign, it urges people to contact Rubio. The ad is running on outlets like Fox, MSNBC, and CNN. Rubio's aides did not respond to WLRN's requests for comment by the time of publication.
"We think that Sen. Rubio will be more persuaded than Sen. Scott," said Randi Weingarten. She is the president of the union.
The AFT has calculated that schools across the country will need more than $116 billion in addition to their regular funding, to keep up with safety guidelines for the virus – things like making more space for social distancing and buying enough personal protective equipment.
"We need to also make sure that we have a plan for reopening school safely, that prevents the virus spread, and we need the resources to do that," Weingarten said. "We need more than the HEROES Act but the HEROES Act is an absolutely vital first step."
The U.S. House may have passed the next round of stimulus packages — the HEROES Act — but it can't become a reality without the Republican Senate.
Given Florida's surges in COVID-19 cases, Weingarten compared Florida to her home state, New York. Weingarten was on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's reopening task force, and criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his response to the pandemic early on.
"Your governor scoffed at my governor in March and April when we were going through those deaths and that surge. ... The plan that Gov. Cuomo released has as much potency for Florida as it has for New York, because what we need to do first and foremost, is you need to have a litmus test about the amount of COVID-19 in the community," she said.
In Broward County, the start of school is coming fast, on August 19.
President of the Broward Teachers Union, Anna Fusco, said that the majority of teachers surveyed in the union are supportive of starting the school year online.
"We did our own survey and 70 percent said that they feel, because of what's happening with the virus, that we should continue online, and are willing to get the extra training to get themselves prepared to do the video conferencing ... the office hours, just the solid communication with the parents and the students," Fusco said.
She said after the rushed closures in the spring, there has been time to improve procedures for what online school in the fall could look like.
"With this serious, serious increase in the coronavirus … right now unless something changes the recommendation is to start online," Fusco said. "Even though they are going to be at home, or out of the physical school site — that instruction, teaching, interaction is going to happen. Kids are still going to get fed. Social, emotional components are going to be met."
Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie announced earlier in a video of his own this week that his official recommendation to the school board is to begin the new school year online.
All three general hospitals in Manatee County have reached capacity amid the pandemic and that's a concern for officials of neighboring Sarasota Memorial Hospital, which is seeing its own record-breaking volume of coronavirus admissions.
The Herald Tribune reports that as of Thursday, Sarasota Memorial was treating 118 COVID-19 patients and the hospital is admitting new coronavirus patients at a rate of about 10 to 15 people a day.
On Monday, Sarasota Memorial will begin reducing its elective surgeries by about 20% to allocate more beds and resources for COVID-19 patients. Staffing levels are at about half of seasonal capacity and the hospital is working to hire additional healthcare workers.
At least 75% of Sarasota Memorial Hospital's ICU patients are on ventilators. Those patients have a 60% recovery rate and typically stay at the hospital for about a month.
Sarasota Memorial is also completely out of convalescent plasma from donors who've recovered for the virus and its running short on supplies uncommon blood types.
The city of Sarasota and the town of Longboat Key have adopted mandatory mask ordinances, but Sarasota County officials continue to ignore calls for a county-wide mask ordinance.
Starting July 21, the Publix grocery store chain will require customers to wear face coverings in its store. The News-Press reports that, to remind shoppers, stores will post signs at entrances and will use the public address system for announcements.
The mask requirement will not apply to young children or to those with medical conditions who cannot wear a face covering.
Not wearing a mask in Miami-Dade County can now get you fined up to $100.
County Commissioners voted, Thursday, to make violating emergency orders - like wearing a mask - a civil violation. Not complying had been a crime, with a fine of up to $500 and six months in jail.
But Mayor Carlos Gimenez said police were reluctant to make arrests and have people face criminal prosecution.
Since the orders were put in place, he says about 4,000 warnings have been issued. He says only one arrest was
The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine will launch Phase Three of clinical trials for potential COVID-19 vaccines.
Lead researcher of the trials, Dr. Susanne Doblecki-Lewis said most vaccines take longer to develop, but the COVID-19 one has a greater sense of urgency.
“All the safety steps and the usual vaccine development steps are part of the process and remain part of the process,” said Dr. Doblecki-Lewis.
“So, I feel assured that it’s not that steps are being skipped, they’re just really being condensed and stacked up quickly.”
The University of Miami is looking for about 1,000 volunteers around South Florida. Those interested in participating in the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials can visit coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org.
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay has seen an increase from a couple of hundred calls a day to sometimes thousands because of the coronavirus.
They started tracking the calls that come in through 2-1-1 on Feb. 29.
At a mental health roundtable Thursday afternoon in Tampa, Clara Reynolds, the President of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, told Gov. Ron DeSantis that a "behavioral health tsunami” is coming.
“It will take about six months. If you look at trauma, if you look at post-traumatic issues, it takes about six months before they'll happen,” Reynolds said. “So, all of us are preparing for an October, November time where individuals are going to need help."
Reynolds said the calls are sometimes about a fear of getting sick or dying, but says when you “peel back the layers of the onion,” are usually more about job losses, paying bills, and concerns about their children withdrawing.
She said telehealth is going to be key to providing this help.
DeSantis touts Florida as one of the first states to loosen telehealth restrictions during the beginning of the pandemic. Restrictions were also loosened on the federal level, allowing people to get services remotely that insurance providers typically would not have covered.
The Department of Children and Families is reporting about a 40 percent improvement in the number of people who attend their scheduled appointments, and they say that’s mostly because of telehealth.
Chad Poppell, the secretary of DCF, said the virus forced the department and medical professionals around the state to use a service that’s been around for a long time, but wasn’t used as much because of reliability and privacy concerns, as well as insurance restrictions.
He expects DCF will continue to use telehealth appointments moving forward, even after treatments and a vaccine for the virus are developed.
“From our perspective, we are seeing some of the top-line numbers that we really care about really improve,” Poppell said. “So, it’s something that at the department - we don’t want to go back."
Poppell says resources can't help unless people know about them and use them - and telehealth is making it easier for some to access their services.
A federal ban on cruise ships operating in the U.S. has been extended through September. The AP reports, the current ban was due to expire next week, but officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an extension, Thursday.
Major cruise lines that belong to an industry trade group had already postponed cruises until at least September 15. Cruise lines are working to save cash and borrow more money in an effort to survive the pandemic.
The extension comes as cases of COVID-19 are on the rise in 40 states.
City of Fort Myers officials are cancelling summer programs at the STARS Complex starting Friday, July 17. A city news release says the closure is due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the region. The News-Press reports at least two employees at the recreation facility have tested positive for the virus.
The STARS Complex summer camp had been set to run through July 30.
