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 7,200 New Cases, 92 New Resident Deaths
Updated Friday at 5:10 p.m.
Florida’s Department of Health confirmed an additional 7,296 positive cases of COVID-19 Friday. The state has a total of 2,155,744 confirmed positive cases, according to the state's health department.
Friday's update also included the announcement of 92 new resident deaths, increasing the statewide number of Floridians who died to 34,330. Factoring in non-resident deaths the number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 35,000.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties make up 11,506 of those reported deaths. Monroe County has reported 50 deaths due to COVID-19.
— WLRN News
Appointments No Longer Required At Fort Lauderdale, Davie, Other Broward Vaccine Sites
Updated Friday at 7:11 a.m.
All state-run COVID-19 vaccination sites in Broward County are no longer requiring appointments. You can just show up and wait in line for your shot.
The Florida Department of Health in Broward County announced the change Thursday, April 15.
Those who already had an appointment scheduled at one of the vaccine sites can either keep their time or visit any of the sites during their hours of operation. A Miami-Dade state-run site at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens also recently stopped taking appointments.
Read more from our news partner at the Miami Herald.
— By Michelle Marchante / The Miami Herald
International And Out-Of-State Students Can Now Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19 In Florida
Updated Friday at 6:35 a.m.
Camila Gutiérrez, an international student at Florida International University, got an email earlier this week offering her the COVID-19 vaccine. She immediately signed up.
The native of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, rushed to do so because she hasn’t been able to get immunized against the deadly virus, despite the minimum age restriction dropping to 18 about two weeks ago.
Gutiérrez, 21, said the impediment had been the state requiring people to provide proof of residency to request a vaccination appointment, and the international business and marketing junior, who lives on the FIU campus in West Miami-Dade, can’t easily do that.
Read more from our news partner at the Miami Herald.
— By Jimena Tavel / The Miami Herald
MD Now Urgent Care Offering COVID Vaccines At Three South Florida Clinics
Updated Friday at 6:30 a.m.
You can now get a COVID-19 vaccine at select MD Now Urgent Care centers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The Moderna vaccine will be available by appointment only at MD Now clinics at 150 NW 42nd Ave. in Miami; 4640 W. Commercial Blvd. in Tamarac; and 1625 S. Federal Highway in Boynton Beach.
Anyone 18 and older can schedule an appointment online at mymdnow.com/covid-19/vaccine/. Proof of Florida residency, like a driver’s license, is required.
Read more from our news partner at the Miami Herald.
— By Michelle Marchante / The Miami Herald
Despite State's Request, Palm Beach County Schools To Keep Mask Mandate For Now
Updated Friday at 6:21 a.m.
Despite a letter from Florida's education commissioner urging districts to drop mask mandates for the upcoming school year, Palm Beach County school leaders say they will continue to heed CDC guidelines and have no plans to eliminate their requirements.
Superintendent Donald Fennoy announced Friday that staff and students,nearly half of whom are still learning remotely, will be expected to return to in-person learning come August.
In the face of that surge, schools will hold firm on cleaning protocols and attempt to maintain at least 3 feet from the center of one desk to another in classrooms, district leaders said in a press conference Thursday.
Read more from our news partner at the Palm Beach Post
— By Sonja Isger / The Palm Beach Post