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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University Of Miami Touts Improving COVID-19 Numbers, Cancels Spring Break
Updated 11:30 a.m., Friday Oct. 2
University of Miami President Julio Frenk argued the Coral Gables private school is successfully “slowing the spread” of coronavirus, citing two days in the last week when there were no new cases of COVID-19 reported among students and staff.
That’s despite a requirement that all on-campus students now must be tested at least once every two weeks.
“After a peak of 42 cases following the Labor Day holiday, even with expanded testing, new daily cases are now in the single digits,” Frenk said during a video message on Wednesday evening.
“Contact tracing tells us that there has been no transmission of the virus in classrooms thus far,” said Frenk, who is a global public health expert.
Asked for evidence to back up Frenk's claim, a spokesperson for the university provided this statement from Erin Kobetz, vice provost for research and scholarship. Also a professor of medicine and public health sciences, Kobetz oversees the university's testing and tracing efforts.
"The University's contact tracing team communicates with all known positives as part of contact tracing," Kobetz said. "Nearly all of them are able to identify their source of exposure. If the team sees more than two positives in a class, they can follow up to identify whether the interaction is class-based or social.
"In all instances, the transmission has been through social contact outside of the classroom," she said.
Following the lead of other universities around the state, UM is canceling its spring break next year to limit the risk that student travel would lead to a spike in COVID-19 transmission.
Classes for the spring semester will start Jan. 25, one week later than originally planned.
“In lieu of spring break — which would significantly heighten the risk of exposure to COVID-19 — the semester will feature two ‘wellness Wednesdays’ to give students a break from instruction,” Frenk said.
Watch the video here:
—Jessica Bakeman/WLRN News
Palm Beach County Wants To Lock In Student Campus Decisions
Updated Thursday at 12:29 p.m.
The Palm Beach County School District says students are bouncing back and forth daily between in-person instruction and distance learning.
Speaking at a school board meeting Wednesday, Superintendent Donald Fennoy wanted parents to choose one instructional method and lock in their schedule for the remainder of the school year.
“I want our educators, our students, and our parents to know we hear you. We understand your concerns,” Fennoy said.
“Simultaneous instruction is not ideal, but it’s our best solution right now."
Fennoy said students bouncing back and forth also “makes contact tracing significantly more difficult in the case of an individual who tests positive for COVID-19 on one of our campuses.”
Parents and guardians can lock in their instructional decision starting Monday, October 5th. The window to make final changes will close Oct. 14.
— By Wilkine Brutus / WLRN
Students Are Returning To South Florida Schools And Teachers Are Leaving
Updated Thursday at 12:03 p.m.
As the Palm Beach County school district prepared to reopen campuses to students this fall, more teachers resigned, retired and took leaves of absence than during the same time period last year.
In fact, retirements more than tripled.
Broward County Public Schools saw a nearly 60% increase in retirements compared to last year.
The data, obtained by WLRN through a public records request, is an early look at how COVID-19 could affect school district staffing.
Here’s the breakdown in Palm Beach, where schools have been open since Sept. 21:
And in Broward, where the school board is currently debating a possible reopening next week:
— By Jessica Bakeman / WLRN
Ban On Evictions Will Expire. Now What For Tenants Who Are Months Behind On Rent?
Updated Thursday at 6:51 a.m.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has finally allowed his moratorium on residential evictions to expire, six months after it took effect on April 2.
In a statement released late Wednesday afternoon, DeSantis noted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently imposed a nationwide order that forbids eviction of tenants who submit a declaration to their landlords and attest that the COVID-19 crisis has left them unable to pay their rent.
Allowing the statewide ban to expire, DeSantis said, will “avoid any confusion over whether the CDC’s evictions order should apply.”
Read more from our news partner at The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
— By Ron Hurtibise / The South Florida Sun Sentinel
More CARES Dollars Available For The Needy In Miami-Dade Can Pay For Food, Rent
Updated Thursday at 6:46 a.m.
The United Way will begin accepting more applications Thursday morning for $20 million in relief funds for Miami-Dade residents, with stipends available to cover groceries, electric bills and rent for people hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applications will be accepted starting at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, according to an announcement posted on United Way’s website. When the application process first opened in early August, it took less than a week for the United Way to halt the process because it was so quickly overwhelmed with requests. A United Way representative said Wednesday night she expects the same kind of response this time around.
“There’s such a huge, great need in the community,” said Cristina Blanco, head of communications for the charity’s Miami-Dade office.
Read more from our news partner at the Miami Herald.
— By Douglas Hanks / Miami Herald
Scripps Jupiter Scientists Find Possible COVID-19 Drug Strategy In New Study
Updated Thursday at 6:43 a.m.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute say they've found a possible way for drugs to treat COVID-19.
Led by Matthew Disney, a chemistry professor at Scripps' Jupiter campus, the researchers did this by offering a roadmap for how to complicate the coronavirus' ability to replicate. Their findings from the proof-of-concept study were published Wednesday in ACS Central Science, an open-access peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The study focused on a site within the coronavirus, called its frameshifting element, that is critical in how the virus replicates itself using RNA genetic material after infecting a cell. The element functions like a clutch in a car, enabling the production of different proteins that help the coronavirus make copies of itself, according to Scripps.
Read more from our news partner at the Palm Beach Post.
— By Sam Howard / Palm Beach Post
