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
Monroe Schools Dashboard Tracks COVID-19 Cases
Updated Monday at 1:10 p.m.
Students in Monroe County have been going to school in classrooms since Sept. 14. The school district has set up a dashboard to track COVID-19 cases among students, teachers and staff.
As of Monday, Sept. 28, there have been four cases in the district — three students and one non-site based staff member. The students were at Plantation Key School, Marathon Middle High School and Stanley Switlik Elementary, which is also in Marathon.
Since Sept. 14, students from pre-K through fifth grade have been attending school every day. Older kids are on an alternating schedule, with some time in classrooms and some doing virtual learning.
— Nancy Klingener/WLRN News
Statewide Coronavirus Cases Increase By 738 Resident Death Toll Reaches 14,037
Updated Monday at 11:58 a.m.
Florida surpassed 700,00 positive cases of COVID-19 asFlorida’s Department of Health confirmed an additional 738 cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
Florida now has a total of 701,302 confirmed positive cases, according to the state's health department.
Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties make up 87 of the newly reported cases. Monroe County only added 2 cases overall.
Monday’s update also included the announcement of 5 new resident deaths, increasing the statewide number of Floridians who died to 14,037.
— By WLRN News
Corrections Worker COVID-19 Cases Top 3,100
Updated Monday at 6:03 a.m.
The number of Florida corrections workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 has topped 3,100, according to numbers released Friday by the state Department of Corrections.
Another 16 worker cases were added Friday, bringing the overall total to 3,106. The number of reported worker cases increased by 133 during the past week.
Seven prisons --- Dade Correctional Institution, Everglades Correctional Institution, the Reception and Medical Center, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, the South Florida Reception Center, Suwannee Correctional Institution and Wakulla Correctional Institution --- have had more than 100 worker cases since the COVID-19 pandemic started in the spring.
Meanwhile, the number of inmates who have tested positive increased to 16,237 on Friday, up 30 from a Thursday count. The number of inmate deaths remained at 131.
— News Service of Florida Staff
State To Miami-Dade Schools: Reopen By Oct. 5 Or Prove Exceptions
Updated Sunday at 9 a.m.
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran wrote a letter to Miami-Dade County Public Schools calling for schools to be fully open by Oct. 5 or ask for exemptions on a school-by-school basis.
The School Board on Friday morning received Corcoran’s three-page letter, which was addressed to Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and board Chair Perla Tabares Hantman. He begins the letter by expressing “grave concerns” about the board’s Monday vote for a delayed start to a soft and conditional opening of schools Oct. 14 with all schools opening for those who wish to return to the schoolhouse on Oct. 21.
The School Board will meet Tuesday at 1 p.m. for a special meeting held in person at the school district’s downtown headquarters to discuss next steps. A memo sent by Carvalho to the board said an agenda will be available by 1 p.m. Sunday.
Read more from our news partner the Miami Herald.
