Florida News that impacts you – May 20th
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Today all of Florida finally joins phase one reopening as Hialeah, Miami, Miami Beach and Miami Gardens join the rest of the state in the reopening process. One notable exception is that restaurants remain closed to inside dining until next Tuesday and beaches will remain closed as well.
- The state provided an update on the processing of unemployment claims Tuesday. Jon Satter, the Department of Management Services Secretary tasked with leading the unemployment process after the initial failures, stated the current system is stable and able to process new claims quickly. He said the ongoing issues pertain to people who had issues with the original Connect website and may need personal assistance. Satter said applicants who did not provide a complete claim or an inaccurate claim need personal assistance to manually resolve these issues. That generally includes a phone call to the DEO, which is averaging wait times over two hours despite 6,000 current call center operators working on behalf of the DEO. The state has now paid nearly 1 million claims.
- Former state Data analyst Rebekah Jones is alleging she was recently fired due to her refusal to reduce the transparency in the data sharing on the Florida Department of Health’s dashboard. Under her method of reporting people who had COVID symptoms but hadn’t yet had a positive test result were included on the state’s site. This method often reflected approximately 10% more cases. The state said her decision to report information this way was unilateral and she was terminated for insubordination for refusing to use accredited methods of reporting.Democrats including Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried are calling for an investigation into her termination.
- Governor DeSantis has approved the plans of seven panhandle counties for the reopening of vacation rentals. These are the first approved reopening's for rentals in the state.
- Speaking of plans, while the Florida State University Board has stated the state’s colleges will be able to reopen campuses for classes in the fall, there will be flexibility for faculty and students who want virtual options. Each school is being asked to provide a reopening plan by June 23rd.