Effective this week, Florida is moving to weekly COVID-19 reporting updates, as opposed to daily. Updates from the Florida Department of Health will be released on Fridays. The state made the move as the trend in cases falls to the lowest since June 13th of last year and hospitalizations drop to their lowest levels since May of last year.
In COVID-19 related news, Royal Caribbean has decided to waive the vaccine mandate for passengers. They previously stated all cruise passengers and crew would have to be vaccinated to sail. The mandate stood in contrast to Florida and Texas law. The cruise line said all crew will be vaccinated and while passengers won’t have to be vaccinated, surveys of cruise passengers have shown 90% of would-be passengers have been vaccinated.
Moving to other news that impact South Floridians, Sprouts Farmer’s market announced six new stores will be opened in South Florida this year. The new locations will be in Boynton Beach, Dania Beach, Homestead, Miami, Oakland Park, and West Palm Beach. Approximately 600 jobs will be added with the new locations.
Finally, the Honda Classic announced 100 South Florida charities will be awarded a near-record $5.1 million in grants. Despite capped attendance, at this year’s tournament, the total is only $200,000 short of a pre-pandemic record. The Classic will have distributed over $55 million to South Florida’s charities since the onset of the annual tournament.
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