Florida News that impacts you – July 17th
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Amid this week’s revelation that numerous labs have only been reporting positive COVID-19 tests to the state, Governor DeSantis clarified the following: It’s typical for labs to only report positives for infectious disease initially, suggesting the reporting by those labs isn’t underhanded or intentional. He also stated, it has no impact on the number of positive case results or deaths.
- South Florida’s hospitals are once again running low on the preferred treatment for COVID-19,remdisivir. The most recent shipment received last weekend has largely been used amid Florida’s highest hospitalization to date. A new study has shown hospitalized patients treated with remdisivir average 11 fewer days in the hospital and have a death rate of 7.4% compared to 12.5% without it. Governor DeSantis made a new appeal directly to VP Mike Pence for additional supplies.
- Florida’s felons who have not paid financial restitution will not be allowed to vote in Florida’s August 18th primary elections after the United States Supreme Court declined to take up the case allowing an injunction, supporting Florida's law requiring financial restitution to stand. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear the case ironically enough, on August 18th.
- Florida’s weekly jobless claims doubled over a week ago. While weekly jobless claims are a poor barometer of overall activity, as they don’t account for people hired, the sharp increase coincides with reclosing measures in parts of South Florida. This raises the concern that overall unemployment may once again be on the rise.