Florida News that impacts you – March 18th, 2021
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- The Florida Department of Health reported 4,599 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. The total resumed the downward trend of new cases dropping back below 4,500 daily over the past week which remains the lowest since the first week of November.
- Nearly 2.5 million Floridians have completed a vaccine schedule as of the state’s most recent vaccine report. This includes 120,745 Floridians who’ve been vaccinated by the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine - however Governor DeSantis said that Florida has nearly exhausted its supply of the J&J vaccines and wouldn’t be receiving more for the “foreseeable future”. Nearly 2 million Floridians have been vaccinated with the first dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and are awaiting a second.
- The IRS has decided to delay the tax filing deadline from April 15th until May 17th. No action is required to use the May 17th deadline. The IRS announced that people wanting an additional extension can request an extension until October 15th this year.
- The Florida Department of Education appears likely to request a wavier from the federal government from the use of mandatory standardized testing this year. Under the current Department of Education guidelines states would still have to conduct the tests, however a wavier if granted, would exempt states from having the results used by the federal government to grade schools.
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