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QUICK UPDATES
Florida Adds More Than 7,300 New Cases, 157 New Resident Deaths
Updated Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Florida’s Department of Health confirmed an additional 7,342 positive cases of COVID-19 Wednesday. Florida has a total of 1,844,627 confirmed positive cases, according to the state's health department.
Wednesday's update also included the announcement of 157 new resident deaths, increasing the statewide number of Floridians who died to 29,311. Factoring in non-resident deaths the number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 29,824.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties make up 9,874 of those reported deaths. Monroe County has reported 44 deaths due to COVID-19.
— WLRN News
Thousands Of Miami And Broward Students Have Left The Public Schools Amid The Pandemic
Updated Wednesday at 3:35 p.m.
While Florida educators are concerned that many students, especially those who are still learning virtually amid the pandemic, are struggling and may be at risk of failing, tens of thousands of children statewide have left the state public school system altogether.
A top Republican state lawmaker said last week that nearly 90,000 public school students in Florida are “missing,” meaning they haven’t shown up for class either in person or online during this school year. Nearly 20,000 of these children are missing from Miami-Dade and Broward school districts, the largest districts in the state and the fourth- and sixth-largest districts in the country.
“We have a moral obligation not to let these children fall through the cracks,” state Rep. Chris Sprowls, the Republican speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, wrote in a letter Thursday to all 75 public school district superintendents. Sprowls represents the Pinellas County area.
Read more at our news partner the Miami Herald.
— David Goodhue / Miami Herald
COVID Spread Letting Up In Palm Beach County
Updated Wednesday at 6:27 a.m
Like much of the nation, the number of new coronavirus cases in Palm Beach County and throughout the state held steady on Tuesday, according to the latest tally by the Florida Department of Health.
While the 6,297 additional cases reported statewide was nearly 2,700 more than on Monday, over the past week the daily increase has averaged 6,649.
The 345 new cases logged in the county was a slight increase over Monday. Still, it is far less than the average of 476 that had been reported in the past seven days.
— By Jane Musgrave / The Palm Beach Post
Read more from our news partner at The Palm Beach Post.