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
Florida Coronavirus Cases Surpass 847,000 Mark, Statewide Death Toll Approaches 17,400
Updated Monday at 5 p.m.
Florida surpassed 847,000 positive cases of COVID-19 as Florida’s Department of Health confirmed an additional 3,924 cases of COVID-19 Monday. Florida has a total of 847,821 confirmed positive cases, according to the state's health department.
Monday's update also included the announcement of 58 new deaths, increasing the statewide number to 17,391. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties make up 6,857 of those reported deaths. Monroe County has reported 25 deaths due to COVID-19.
— WLRN News
Pfizer Says Early Data Signals COVID-19 Vaccine Is Effective
Updated Monday at 8:03 a.m.
Pfizer says an early peek at its vaccine data suggests the shots may be 90% effective at preventing COVID-19, indicating the company is on track later this month to file an emergency use application with U.S. regulators.
Monday’s announcement doesn’t mean a vaccine is imminent: This interim analysis, from an independent data monitoring board, looked at 94 infections recorded so far in a study that has enrolled nearly 44,000 people in the U.S. and five other countries.
Pfizer Inc. did not provide any more details about those cases, and cautioned the initial protection rate might change by the time the study ends. Even revealing such early data is highly unusual.
— Linda A. Johnson and Lauran Neergaard / AP Medical Writers
Read more from our news partner at the Miami Herald.
Nursing Home COVID-19 Cases Rise Four-Fold In Surge States
Updated Monday at 7:57 a.m.
Despite Trump administration efforts to erect a protective shield around nursing homes, coronavirus cases are surging within facilities in states hard hit by the latest onslaught of COVID-19.
An analysis of federal data from 20 states for The Associated Press finds that new weekly cases among residents rose nearly four-fold from the end of May to late October, from 1,083 to 4,274. Resident deaths more than doubled, from 318 a week to 699, according to the study by University of Chicago health researchers Rebecca Gorges and Tamara Konetzka.
Equally concerning, weekly cases among nursing home staff in surge states more than quadrupled, from 855 the week ending May 31, to 4,050 the week ending Oct. 25. That rings alarms because infected staffers not yet showing symptoms are seen as the most likely way the virus gets into facilities. When those unwitting staffers test positive, they are sidelined from caring for residents, raising pressures on remaining staff.
— By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / The Associated Press
Read more from our news partner at The Sun Sentinel.
