Belle Glade

The funds are part of of more than $7.1 million in awards announced Tuesday by Governor Ron DeSantis for nine Florida communities through the Rural Infrastructure Fund program.

State health officials reported 7,788 new COVID-19 cases, Sunday and 119 new deaths. Florida launched a new state-run website, Friday, for people to register for COVID-19 vaccination appointments at myvaccine.fl.gov. It remains unclear how Florida residents under 65 years old who are deemed “extremely vulnerable” can sign up to receive a vaccine dose. The more contagious COVID-19 variant called B.1.1.7 continues to spread in Florida. The CDC reports, Florida now leads the nation with 147 cases of the variant identified so far. After giving Publix exclusive vaccine rights in Palm Beach County, the state is now planning to open a vaccine clinic in Belle Glade to serve the predominantly Black agricultural towns that surround Lake Okeechobee and that are more than 25 miles away from the nearest Publix location. A USF survey focused on misinformation, social media, and the politicization of the pandemic explores varying degrees of trust people have in information they’re getting about the coronavirus through social media platforms.