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Florida News That Impacts You – December 3rd, 2021
Bottom Line: Your daily recap of the some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
- The good news... Florida maintained the fewest population adjusted COVID-19 cases in the country on Thursday. Not so good news, Florida reported its highest daily total in exactly three weeks on Thursday with 2,266 new cases. Florida’s weekly trend for daily cases now stands at 1,422.
- CDC data shows that through December, Florida’s COVID-19 vaccination rate remains above average as Florida’s 18th with the percentage of people who’ve obtained at least one dose and 19th in those who’re fully vaccinated. However, Florida parents remain skeptical of the recently approved vaccinations for children between the ages of 5-11, with only 10% of eligible children vaccinated – 38th nationally.
- The Florida Medical Examiners Commission has released a report showing a record 243,088 Floridians died of drug overdoses last year – a 17% increase over 2019. The pandemic was cited as the key catalyst behind the rise in overdoses. A total of 23,387 Floridians died of COVID-19 in 2020, meaning more Floridians died of drug overdoses alone due to the pandemic, than did from COVID-19 in total.
- Governor DeSantis has announced a plan to re-establish Florida’s State Guard. Under the plan Florida would recruit 200 volunteer Guardsman who would serve the statein a reserve role. Similar to the state’s National Guard, the state guard could be called into service as needed by the governor, however the federal government wouldn’t be able to direct the state guard into service. The guard was disbanded in 1947, however remains Constitutional under Florida law.