This post will be updated today, Thursday, August 13, and through the week with the latest information on COVID-19 in South Florida.
WLRN staff continues to add to community resource lists, including this articleon where kids and families can get food while schools are closed, and this postabout whether and where to get tested for coronavirus.
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The dedicated website for the Florida Department of Health, including information about symptoms and numbers of cases, can be found here.
The dedicated website from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be found here.
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QUICK UPDATES
Florida COVID-19 Cases Increase By 6,236, Deaths Increase By 148
Updated Thursday at 12:45 p.m.
The Florida Department of Health confirmed an additional 6,236 cases on Thursday. The state has a total of 557,137 confirmed positive cases, according to the state's health department.
Thursday's update included 148 new deaths among Florida residents, increasing the statewide number to 8,913.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County make up 3,801 of the reported deaths. Monroe County has reported 13 deaths due to COVID-19.
- WLRN News
When Palm Beach County Schools Reopen, All Kids Will Have In-Person Option
Updated Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
Under pressure from state officials, the Palm Beach County school board voted Wednesday to revise its plan for eventually reopening.
The district will still start virtually on Aug. 31. But when it’s ultimately safe to bring students back, all kids will have the option of in-person schooling, the Palm Beach Post reported.
The original plan was for a phased return, with students with disabilities and kids in “transition grades” like kindergarten and ninth grade coming back first.
The Florida Department of Education is withholding approval of the district’s reopening plan without the change, threatening hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding.
About 174,000 students in Palm Beach County public schools will start the school year virtually.
The board’s amended plans give parents the choice to send their children back to school. All students and teachers must wear face masks once in-person instruction commences.
— Jessica Bakeman/WLRN News
Florida Blames Lab For Backlog In Test Results, Skewing State’s COVID-19 Data
Updated Thursday at 7:27 a.m.
A Miami-Dade County lab suddenly reported the results of thousands of COVID-19 cases from the past seven weeks — a backlog that “severely skews” Florida’s daily report on COVID-19 infections, the state health department warned Wednesday.
The data dump distorted the daily results, which had shown a higher percentage of people in Florida were testing positive for COVID-19 than at any time since late July.
The Florida Department of Health said on Twitter that Wednesday’s report was skewed because the lab reported over 4,000 case results that date as far back as June 23. “This backlog severely skews today’s daily report for Miami-Dade & is not reflective of current trends,” the state’s tweet said, citing Niznik Lab Corp. as the source for the delay of test results getting to the state.
To read more, visit our news partner at the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
-By Marc Freeman, Brooke Baitinger and Lisa J. Huriash / Sun Sentinel
