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
Statewide Cases Increase By 8,555, Florida Surpasses 950,000 Case Mark
Updated Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Florida surpassed 950,000 positive cases of COVID-19 as Florida’s Department of Health confirmed an additional 8,555 cases of COVID-19 Tuesday. Florida has a total of 953,300 confirmed positive cases, according to the state's health department.
Tuesday's update also included the announcement of 72 new resident deaths, increasing the statewide number of Floridians who died to 18,157. Factoring in non-resident deaths the number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 18,383.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties make up 7,082 of those reported deaths. Monroe County has reported 27 deaths due to COVID-19.
— WLRN News
Longtime Keys Politician, Wife And Daughter Are ‘Fighting For Their Lives’ With COVID-19
Updated Tuesday at 12:15 p.m.
A Key West politician, his wife and their youngest daughter are in a Miami hospital sick with COVID-19.
Monroe County Commissioner Craig Cates, his wife, Cheryl Cates, and daughter Crystal are in the intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, according to a Facebook post by another daughter.
“My dad, Craig, is at Jackson Memorial and he and my mother, Cheryl, are in adjacent rooms in the ICU,” their oldest daughter Tammy Cates Berard posted Monday night. “I know they can feel each other’s presence and this will help them fight!”
Read more at our news partner the Miami Herald.
— Gwen Filosa/ FL Keys News/The Miami Herald
Schools Are Seeing COVID-19 Cases In South Florida — But Little Spread Among Students
Updated Tuesday at 7:08 a.m.
South Florida schools may be winning a major battle against COVID-19.
While the virus has upended many students’ education, due to quarantines and an erratic mix of in-person and remote learning, it’s not creating as many health concerns as feared, district officials say.
There have been more than 2,000 cases of the new coronavirus since South Florida schools reopened this fall, but most of those happened off-campus and haven’t spread on campus, health and school officials said.
— By Scott Travis / The South Florida Sun Sentinel
Read more from our news partner at The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
South Florida Fair To Happen In 2021 With New Coronavirus Protocols
Updated Tuesday at 7:06 a.m.
A pandemic can't stop the 2021 South Florida Fair.
The event that draws tens of thousands of people to the fairgrounds on Southern Boulevard each year will move forward with a scaled-back approach and new protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, fair officials said Monday.
Among them: Fairgoers must wear masks. They'll find hand-washing, sanitizer stations and Plexiglas shields everywhere. They'll take more steps between rides and vendors but won't be able to attend a single parade. And many activities that took place indoors will now occur outside.
— By Kristina Webb / The Palm Beach Post
Read more from our news partner at The Palm Beach Post.