Amber Amortegui

State health officials reported 6,771 COVID-19 cases and 197 deaths, Wednesday. The Florida Department of Health is requesting an audit after more than 1,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses spoiled in Palm Beach County. Lee Health’s Board of Directors sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials, Monday, expressing concerns about Florida’s vaccine rollout and noting that only about half of the hospital system’s employees have been given the vaccine. The Lee County School District has quarantined three elementary school classrooms this week due to cases of the virus. The Marco Island Police Chief and Marco Island Fire-Rescue Chief face a 30-day unpaid suspension stemming from an investigation into access of the city’s online vaccine appointment registration system. Democrats in the state Legislature are pushing a bill to keep state exam scores from being used to hold students back or evaluate teachers.

State Health officials reported 6,229 new cases of COVID-19, Sunday increasing the statewide total to 532,806 cases. The Florida Department of Health also reported 77 new coronavirus-related deaths, Aug. 9, for a total of 8,315 fatalities. Sunday’s numbers compare to 8,502 confirmed cases and 187 new deaths reported Saturday.Despite Sunday's relatively low number of new coronavirus-related fatalities reported, the daily average number of deaths over the past seven days stands at 158 deaths.

State health officials reported 186 new coronavirus-related deaths, Tuesday, setting a new record high for the number of deaths reported in a single day.Yesterday's deaths bring Florida's statewide death toll from the virus to 6,117 fatalities.2,760 deaths, or 45% of Florida's total COVID fatalities have been among staff and residents of long-term care facilities. Even so, Gov. Ron DeSantis says he's considering a possible relaxation of the state's ban on visitation to long-term care facilities like nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

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.