Florida News that impacts you – September 2nd
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- Palm Beach County Commissioners voted for a partial Phase 2 reopening plan which now heads to Governor DeSantis for approval. Under the plan, Palm Beach County would begin Phase 2 next Tuesday, the 8th. The plan is more restrictive than the state’s Phase 2 plan, as it creates a new category of “nightlife” businesses which will not be allowed to reopen. The nightlife category includes bars and nightclubs. Businesses allowed to reopen, should the plan be approved, include bowling alleys, movie theaters and daytime entertainment venues.
- Quest Diagnostics has been dropped as a qualified COVID-19 testing facility by the Florida Department of Health after 75,000 tests were reported Tuesday dating back as far as April. The data dump more than doubled Florida’s reported daily coronavirus case count and artificially raised the positive test rate reported.
- Governor DeSantis outlined conditions for the resumption of visitation at Florida’s nursing homes during a meeting of the state’s reopening Task Force. The guidelines call for up to two family members to visit loved one’s in nursing homes provided they wear masks. Nursing homes have to be COVID-19 free for at least 14 days to participate. Currently 62% of Florida’s nursing homes are eligible.
- The Florida Lottery has a new app which lottery players can use to scan tickets to check for potential winning status, use for second chance games, store numbers to be used later and to locate retailers. The app can’t legally accept wagers.