Farmworkers

State health officials reported 5,294 new COVID-19 cases and 87 deaths on Wednesday. So far, more than 5.8 million people in Florida have received a vaccine including more than 2.5 million people who have received a first dose and more than 3.3 million who have either completed the two-shot series or received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.Vaccine eligibility in Florida will expand next Monday, April 5, to include anyone 18 and older. Sixteen and 17-year-olds will be eligible, Monday, for the Pfizer vaccine with parental consent.Gov. Ron DeSantis says he’ll take emergency action to prevent government or businesses from requiring the vaccine or a vaccine passport system. Meanwhile, the Biden administration says it will not issue a federal mandate requiring proof of inoculation. The White House will be letting private companies handle the logistics for vaccine passports.Farmworkers in Homestead spoke with Miami-Dade officials this week as they push for vaccine access. Time is short before changes in the growing season prompt migrant farmworkers in Florida travel elsewhere.Attorneys general from 13 states, including Florida, have filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration over a provision in the federal stimulus that bars state governments from using the relief funds to offset tax cuts.Gov. DeSantis announced Wednesday that principals and teachers at Florida's K-12 public schools will receive $1,000 bonuses similar to the $1,000 bonuses he announced two weeks ago for first responders.

State health officials reported 3,312 COVID-19 cases, Monday and 81 deaths. Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida’s vaccine eligibility will be expanded to any one 60 and older on March 15. Florida Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried is criticizing DeSantis’ vaccine rollout, saying it should be easier for medically vulnerable people to prove they’re eligible. DeSantis is criticizing the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package, saying it penalizes states like Florida where officials reopened the economy relatively quickly. DeSantis is calling on the federal government to revise its distribution model, arguing that money should be allocated on a per-capita basis. Elected officials and advocates in Palm Beach County say the state should prioritize vaccines for farmworkers.

There is a community garden tucked behind the Mission Peniel food distribution and outreach center in Immokalee. It’s called “Cultivate Abundance” and features produce not normally found in stores, but which is prolific in the native countries of many of the town’s inhabitants.

State health officials reported 3,309 new COVID-19 cases, Thursday, increasing Florida's total to 726,013 infections. The Florida Department of Health also reported 164 new coronavirus-related deaths, Oct. 8, bringing the statewide death toll to 15,254 fatalities.Of the 5,496,985 COVID-19 tests that have been reported in Florida so far, the overall positivity rate stands at 13.21% and the latest single-day positivity rate increased slightly to 4.56%

Florida now has 21,019 confirmed cases of the coronavirus according to the latest update from the state Department of Health. In the past week, health…

Florida now has 21,019 confirmed cases of the coronavirus according to the latest update from the state Department of Health. In the past week, health…

Immokalee is a community with a vulnerable population of migrant farmworkers who are on the front lines of Southwest Florida’s food supply chain.…

Farmworker advocates educated locals in Naples this week about the history of abuse in the fields. They also tried recruiting more people to boycott…

President Donald Trump has promised to withdraw federal money from jurisdictions that do not help immigration agents find and deport people living…

Florida farmers face acute needs for labor when the harvest comes, and in recent years they've relied on guest workers from other countries under the H-2A…