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It’s clear there was no negative COVID-19 impact in Florida due to Labor Day weekend. Florida reported 9,313 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, dropping Florida’s weekly trend for cases to the lowest level since July 24th. As for COVID-19 hospitalizations, another 305 fewer Floridians are hospitalized with the virus today dropping hospitalizations below 10,000 for the first time in over six weeks.
In other news, Governor DeSantis bashed the Biden administration because they are set to cut monoclonal antibody treatments by half. The treatments, featuring a Regeneron cocktail, have proven to be the most effective way to treat COVID-19. Florida’s led the country in rolling out the treatments as Governor DeSantis made it a priority to make treatment centers available statewide. DeSantis indicated he’s now in talks with GlaxoSmithKline about another COVID-cocktail in which clinical trials have shown an 85% reduction in hospitalizations and death from those who receive the treatments after testing positive for the virus.
As expected, tens of thousands of South Floridians have been added to flood zones according to newly released federal flood maps. Broward was the hardest hit with nearly 65,000 properties being added to the federal government’s flood zone. The designation mandates flood insurance for those with mortgages and raises the premiums of those policies. Local governments do have the ability to appeal the designations.