Florida News that impacts you – August 24th
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- New positive COVID-19 test levels continued to drop in Florida through the weekend. The most recent weekly trend has dropped to the lowest level since June 24th. The positive test rate dropped below 5.5% on Sunday and it’s now the lowest since the first week of June. Additionally, the positive test rate has been below the CDC’s target rate of 10% statewide each day in August.
- The Florida Hospital Association announced Florida’s 200+ hospitals have lost $7.4 billion during the pandemic thus far. This has placed a large strain on health systems which has resulted in widespread furloughs and could result in permanent closures, especially in rural communities.
- Initial attendance figures from Orlando’s theme parks have shown that since they’ve reopened attendance declined 64% year over year at Universal’s parks with Disney posting 80% declines at its theme parks.
- As part of a new initiative, NOAA has named Florida’s Gulf Coast as one of the first two Aquaculture Opportunity Areas. The new Aquaculture Opportunity program is designed to create a balance of commercial fishing zones with limited impact on marine life.