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COVID-19 Morning Report

Florida Department of Health

State health officials reported 4,423 new COVID-19 cases, Wednesday, for a total of 821,123 cases. The Florida Department of Health also reported 88 new coronavirus-related deaths Nov. 4 increasing the statewide death toll to 17,131 fatalities.

Over the past seven days, the single-day average number of new infections reported stands at 4,385 cases. The average number of daily deaths reported over the past week comes to nearly 59 fatalities a day.

The latest single-day positivity rate reported by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, using the formula recommended by the World Health Organization, has increased to 9.33%; That was on Tuesday and it marks the highest the single-day positivity rate has been in the past two weeks. Over that time period the positivity rate has dipped as low as 4.64%.

Here in the Southwest Florida region including Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota Counties, health officials have reported a total of 69,739 COVID-19 infections and 1,668 coronavirus-related fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Florida Senate begins its Organizational Session in mid-January. Lawmaking will look a lot different next year due to the coronavirus, with the state senate releasing precautionary rules.

Every Senator must be tested for COVID-19. The session starts on Jan. 11 and ends on Feb. 19. During that time district staff based outside of Tallahassee won’t be able to travel to the capital.

Families and special guests of lawmakers must be pre-registered in order to attend in-person. The capitol will remain closed to the public. And face coverings must be worn at all times. While on the floor, Senators must wear solid-colored masks with no pattern or logo other than the Senate Seal on it.

Senate leaders developed the protocols with help from infectious disease and infection prevention experts from Tampa General Hospital and the University of South Florida.

The House is starting their organizational session on Nov. 17.

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Blaise Gainey is a Multimedia Reporter for WFSU News. Blaise hails from Windermere, Florida. He graduated from The School of Journalism at the Florida A&M University. He formerly worked for The Florida Channel, WTXL-TV, and before graduating interned with WFSU News. He is excited to return to the newsroom. In his spare time he enjoys watching sports, Netflix, outdoor activities and anything involving his daughter.