Coronavirus Live Updates: More School Locations Now Available For Grab-And-Go Meal Pickup

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.

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

More School Locations Now Available For Grab-And-Go Meal Pickup

Updated Monday at 3:15 p.m.

Meals are now available for students at every public school in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and most in Palm Beach.

The districts expanded their grab-and-go meal programs to additional school buildings for the start of the new school year. In the spring and over the summer, the districts had been operating meal service out of a limited number of locations.

The pick-ups are still offered two days a week, the same days in all three districts: Tuesdays and Thursdays. In Miami-Dade, the distributions are from 4 to 6 p.m. on both days, and in Broward and Palm Beach, they’re from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 5 p.m.

Breakfast is free for all students in the three districts, while lunch is $0.40 for those who qualify for a discount. Full-price lunches cost from $2 to $2.50, depending on the district and the age of the students. Families pay online for the meals.

In the Florida Keys, the district is continuing to deliver meals along the district's bus route.

Find more information on where to find free food during the pandemic here.

—Jessica Bakeman/WLRN News

Florida Sees Downturn In COVID-19 Cases, Reports Lowest Single Day Infection Count With 1,885 New Cases

Updated Monday at 12:22 p.m.

Florida reported its lowest single day infection count after reporting 1,885 new COVID-19 cases in a Monday announcement by the State Department of Health.

It comes after days of downward trends. Over the weekend, single day infection counts were less than 4,000. Meanwhile, the state racked up a total of 623,471 cases overall.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties made up 622 of all new cases. Monroe County only added 7 new cases all of which were Florida residents.

Statewide deaths reached 11,187 after the state recorded 68 people had died.

Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe County each reported less than two deaths Monday. Miami-Dade County added 34 new deaths.

— By Alyssa Ramos / WLRN

Palm Beach County Starts School Year Online, With Some Glitches

Updated Monday at 10 a.m.

For the first time, the Palm Beach County school district is starting the school year online only.

More than 190,000 students will be connected, starting today, but families from underprivileged communities may not have access to laptops or fast and reliable internet connectivity.

The school district has spent millions of dollars to provide Chromebook laptops and Wifi hotspots to bridge some of the technology gaps.

At a back-to-school conference last week, school officials said the process of running the distance learning system has improved from spring. And students will follow a typical daily bell schedule as teachers conduct live lessons.

Under the school district's reopening plan, once the county enters phase two of the states’ reopening plan, parents could keep their children home for distance learning or send them back into school buildings.

But there were some glitches to start the first day of online learning. The district directed users to another website as their IT team worked to fix the issues with the online portal.

— Wilkine Brutus/WLRN News

County Launches Contact Tracing App To Help Track, Fight COVID-19 Spread

Updated Monday at 9:52 a.m.

Palm Beach County has a new arrow in its quiver to strike back against Covid-19.

The county is hoping that, with just a quick download, people can help stop the virus from spreading. To make that possible, it spent $775,000 to buy a contact tracing app, called CombatCOVID PBC, from an area developer.

The app uses Bluetooth to communicate with other mobile devices that also are using it, and can be downloaded from the App Store for iPhones or Google Play for Androids.

Read more from our news partner at The Palm Beach Post.

— William Kelly

Tattoo Parlors, Body Piercing And Tanning Businesses Allowed To Reopen In Palm Beach County Monday

Updated Monday at 7:01 a.m.

Tattoo parlors, body-piercing studios and tanning salons can reopen in Palm Beach County Monday, as long as they follow necessary COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.

Palm Beach County issued an executive order Sunday allowing the businesses to reopen, but they must adhere to guidelines from the Florida Department of Health. According to the executive order, county and local law enforcement will enforce the new reopening order, but officials said if they follow guidelines, the practices should be safe.

“These establishments have a low risk of transmission or low risk of community spread when facial coverings, physical distancing, enhanced cleaning protocols and proper guidelines are followed,” the order read.

Read more from our news partner at the Sun Sentinel.

— By Austen Erblat / The Sun Sentinel

County Launches Contact Tracing App To Help Track, Fight COVID-19 Spread

Updated Monday at 5:44 a.m.

Palm Beach County has a new arrow in its quiver to strike back against Covid-19.

The county is hoping that, with just a quick download, people can help stop the virus from spreading. To make that possible, it spent $775,000 to buy a contact tracing app, called CombatCOVID PBC, from an area developer.

The app uses Bluetooth to communicate with other mobile devices that also are using it, and can be downloaded from the App Store for iPhones or Google Play for Androids.

Read more from our news partner at the Palm Beach Post.

— By William Kelly / Palm Beach Post