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Coronavirus Live Updates: Florida Adds More Than 3,600 New Cases, 155 New Resident Deaths

LYNNE SLADKY
/
AP
File photo of Obamacare Health Insurance

This post will be updated today, Monday, Feb. 15, and through the week with the latest information on COVID-19 in South Florida.

WLRN staff continues to add updates on testing and vaccination sites, executive orders and messages from government officials, and the latest news on COVID-19. You can find information on free food and food distributions here.

The dedicated website for the Florida Department of Health, including information about the 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 Adds More Than 3,600 New Cases, 155 New Resident Deaths

Updated Monday at 3:55 p.m.

Florida’s Department of Health confirmed an additional 3,615 positive cases of COVID-19 Monday. Florida has a total of 1,830,988 confirmed positive cases, according to the state's health department.

Monday's update also included the announcement of 155 new resident deaths, increasing the statewide number of Floridians who died to 28,934. Factoring in non-resident deaths the number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 29,434.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties make up 9,800 of those reported deaths. Monroe County has reported 42 deaths due to COVID-19.

— WLRN News

FIU Tells Employees To Return To Campus, Saying The University’s Success Depends On It

Updated Monday at 5:40 a.m

Nearly a year after Florida International University shuttered its campuses and ordered most of its more than 10,000 employees to work remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Miami-based public university is ready to “take back [its] space” FIU President Mark Rosenberg told faculty and staff last week after sending an email that strongly suggested they return to the campus.

The missive comes at a time when Florida is leading the nation in cases of the more contagious B.1.1.7 strain of the virus, Miami-Dade’s confirmed case count is topping more than 1,000 new cases a day and the county is lagging behind the state and other large counties in getting seniors vaccinated.

Rosenberg sent the email last Monday to faculty and staff asking them to “increase [their] physical presence on campus effective Monday, February 15,” describing the mission as a “noble task” and telling them the success of the students and the university “depend upon it.”

— By Jimena Tavel / The Miami Herald

Read more from our news partner at The Miami Herald.

South Florida Schools Say No Changes — They Are Adhering To CDC Reopening Guidelines

Updated Monday at 5:37 a.m

The Miami-Dade and Broward public school systems said there is no need for them to update their protocols as a result of Friday’s detailed directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to reopen schools safely.

Students in South Florida have been back to class full time, either in person or online, since October, and districts have set in place rules like mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, frequent hand washing and uni-directional hallways for those attending physically.

“These are elements that have been part of our policy, and are now being recommended by the CDC,” Miami-Dade County Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Friday.

— By David Goodhue / The Miami Herald

Read more from our news partner at The Miami Herald.

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