Hospitals in the Sunshine State are seeing a record surge of coronavirus cases as Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis defied calls from health experts, along with federal and local officials, to implement a mask mandate. The White House says that the state, along with Texas, made up a third of all new COVID-19 cases in the country, of which there are more than 35 million infections. Read more about how Florida is tackling the pandemic.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday downplayed a spike in COVID-19 cases that’s shattered state hospitalization records and strongly reiterated his vow not to impose a mask mandate or any business restrictions. With the much more contagious delta variant now spreading …
CNN — Coronavirus-related hospitalizations are up 13% from Florida’s previous peak on July 23, 2020, according to the Florida Hospital Association. FHA said it expects 60% of hospitals in the state to face a “critical staffing shortage” in the next seven days. There are currently 11,515 patients …
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday pledged that there would be no mask mandates in schools or Covid-related lockdowns this fall even as the virus surges in the state and across the nation. Florida has seen its cases explode in July, primarily among the unvaccinated, and hospitals …
Florida’s largest hospital systems are expanding their coronavirus units, limiting visitors and fearing staffing shortages as they deal with the statewide surge that is breaking records set last year for both cases and hospitalizations. Hospitalizations have grown tenfold statewide in just over a …
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The mayor of the county that hosts Florida’s theme park mecca said Monday that “we are now in crisis mode” when it comes to dealing with soaring numbers of COVID-19 infections. Florida accounted for a fifth of the nation’s new infections last week, more than any other state, …
WASHINGTON — States with low vaccination rates are driving a new coronavirus wave sweeping over the nation, with the much more transmissible Delta …
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s Covid wars are starting again. Local officials across Florida are bucking Gov. Ron DeSantis and his anti-mandate coronavirus strategy as infections soar in the state and nation. They’re imposing vaccine and mask requirements for government workers and even declaring states of …
Rep. Matt Gaetz on Saturday night mocked health officials who've been sounding the alarms about COVID-19 mutations. Speaking before a crowd, Gaetz said he has the "Florida variant" and the "freedom variant." "You've had all the experts say look out for the Delta variant or the Lambda variant," he …
CNN — Amid recent surging coronavirus cases in Florida, a top Republican National Committee official in the state has spread anti-vaccine rhetoric and misinformation, comparing the Biden administration’s vaccine efforts to Nazi-era “brown shirts,” and twice calling the vaccines “the mark of the …
TALLAHASSEE — Florida has been here before. But not like this. This wave of the coronavirus crashing over the state is different. The strain is …
