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Florida News That Impacts You – August 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 Board of Education ruled the Alachua and Broward School Districts violated state law in passing mask mandates for students without parental opt outs. While no specific sanctions have been issued yet, potential remedies outlined by the Board include funding cuts, additional reporting requirements and the removal of officials responsible for the policies. Broward’s school year starts today.
- After 21,669 new COVID-19 cases were reported by the Florida Department of Health on Tuesday, Florida’s weekly trend for cases has risen to a new pandemic high of 21,787 cases. The weekly trend had declined over the prior two days before Tuesday’s reporting. Related...
- Florida reached a new high in COVID-19 hospitalizations as well on Tuesday with 773 net new patients taking the total to 16,521. According to the Florida Hospital Association, 75% of hospitals will have a critical staffing shortage within the next week with current trends. Related...
- Palm Beach County declared a state of emergency after available ICU beds in the Glades were exhausted and COVID-19 patients were having to be sent outside of the County as local hospitals weren’t able to accept transferred patients.