Florida News – Highlights from around the state – March 19th
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Through Wednesday Florida had secured COVID-19 test kits capable of producing 600,000 individual test results, however the state is running low on swabs which are needed to collect samples to be tested. Governor DeSantis stated an order the state placed on March 9th still hasn’t been delivered and may limit the ability to continue to ramp up testing state-wide.
- Broward and Miami-Dade Schools are starting remote learning on March 30th. Both school districts are distributing devices for virtual education. Miami-Dade has already issued 50,000 devices with Broward set to distribute 90,000 starting Friday. The Palm Beach County School District is going to use a combination of Google Classroom virtual services and online prerecorded lesson plans. Parents are directed to palmbeachschools.org for more information.
- Governor DeSantis signed a wavier lifting pre-authorization requirements for health procedures under Medicaid. This allows a streamlined process for medical service providers to provide medical care without having to wait for approvals by the Florida Medicaid Program. President Trump’s National Emergency Declaration included the ability for states to do this without penalty.
- All state prisons have been closed to admitting new inmates until the threat of the coronavirus has subsided. Prisons have been cited as high-risk areas for potential infection.
- Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried activated a 2-1-1 hotline for families to find the nearest meals for children while schools are closed. You can call 2-1-1 or text FLKIDSMEALS to 211-211 for the site locations.
- Florida’s Department of Children and Families has closed all storefronts and lobbies and moved all processing online indefinitely to myflorida.com/accessflorida.