State Health officials reported 2,521 new COVID-19 cases Sunday bringing Florida's total to 683,754 cases. The Florida Department of Health also reported nine new coronavirus-related deaths, Sept. 20, bringing the statewide death toll to 13,459 fatalities.
Of the 5,102,203 COVID-19 tests that have been reported in Florida so far, the overall positivity rate stands at 13.4%. The latest single day positivity rate stands at 4.62%.
Overall testing rates in Florida remain on a decline with a daily average of about 24,000 tests a day, so far, in September, which is down from an average of about 32,000 daily tests in August and down from about 54,400 tests a day in July.
Nationwide, Florida has the third highest number of reported COVID-19 infections behind only California with 783,000 cases and Texas with 707,000 cases.
Here in the Southwest Florida region including Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota Counties, state health officials have reported a total of 57,016 cases of the virus and 1,360 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
With the state gaining back more than half of the jobs lost since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.4% in August. That represents a major decrease from an 11.4 % mark in July amid an accelerated push to reopen businesses.
The new rate projects 753,000 jobless Floridians from a labor force of just over 10 million people.
The tourism dependent Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metropolitan statistical area maintained the highest unemployment rate in the state in August at 11%.
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity chief economist Adrienne Johnston says the numbers reflect the gradual reopening of the economy. However, she cautions against giving too much weight to one- or two-month trends.
“People are finding jobs. They are going back to work. It may not be the same job, and they may be finding one job when they had two,” said Johnston.
“So, there are a couple of things there just to be mindful of when you look at these trends, but the key is that people are getting back into the labor market.”
The new figures provide a snapshot of the state before Gov. Ron DeSantis recently allowed Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties to join the second phase of an economic reopening effort that began in early June.
Also, the figures do not reflect a move that allowed bars and craft breweries, last week, to again serve drinks for on-site consumption in most of the state.
The Fort Walton Beach-Destin metropolitan area had the lowest unemployment rate in August at 4.5%.
Venice City Council members are set to hold a second reading of an ordinance, Tuesday, to extend the city's mandatory mask policy to the end of October.
If city councilmembers don't approve the extension, the current mask mandate will expire Sept. 24. The Sarasota Herald Tribune reports, board members approved a first reading of the ordinance on Sept. 8.
If approved, the ordinance would also make it so that any future extensions of the mask-wearing policy could be enacted through a resolution requiring just one vote instead of two.
Many South Florida public school students are returning to classrooms soon. Dr. Lisa Gwynn is a pediatrician on the Miami-Dade Superintendent’s Reopening Committee. She said there are a lot of complicated logistics.
“If they do come down with symptoms, how that child is managed, sending them to the isolation room, calling the parents, quarantining classrooms, testing availability and all of those questions are still being worked out,” said Gwynn.
The Broward and Miami-Dade’s school districts are considering an October 5 start date, or possibly sooner. Health experts say kids are less likely to suffer serious complications from COVID-19, but they can spread the disease.
Meanwhile, Sept. 21 marks the first day of in-person instruction for students in the Palm Beach County school district since mid-March.
Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Donald Fennoy said he wants parents to take pandemic precautions seriously as schools there reopen.
“We need you to keep your children home if they are showing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 or if they have recently been exposed.”
Fennoy said the majority of parents have chosen to keep their children learning remotely for the first week of the reopening. He said parents who decide to send their children back into the classroom should expect about a week to accommodate the request.
Bars reopened across much of the state last week marking the first time many Floridians can get a drink without having to order food.
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Halsey Bashears said bar owners should heed the state’s emergency orders or risk serious penalties.
“If we observe them … where they’re not doing seated service, people are standing around, it’s obvious it’s over 50% occupancy, we’re going to suspend their license and we’re going to bring them into an administrative hearing and either fine them or take their license.”
Public health experts have said that reopening bars even at limited capacity could still spread the virus. Bars remain closed in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Talks to reopen them soon are ongoing.
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