Florida's Latest News

DeSantis not planning statewide campaign in Florida to urge coronavirus vaccine use

With Florida recently passing the 1 million mark for Covid-19 cases, the prospect of a vaccine being available in coming weeks looms as a potential bright spot in the state’s troubled battle with the coronavirus.

But Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration has no plans for a widescale campaign encouraging Floridians to be vaccinated, even as public health officials worry that many people will shun the shot for a variety of reasons. 

“We’ve seen all along that mixed messaging or confusing messaging is at best, dangerous, and at worse deadly,” said Dr. Marissa Levine, a public health expert at the University of South Florida-Health, and a former Virginia state health commissioner. “We need clear messaging, and we haven’t had that yet.”

Nearly a quarter of Florida’s new 8,436 COVID-19 cases come from Miami-Dade

Florida’s Department of Health on Sunday confirmed 8,436 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,058,074. Also, 93 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident toll to 19,177.

Four new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 246.

Sunday is the first time in three days that the state’s single-day case count is less than 10,000. Testing was also down compared to the previous days though fewer tests are usually processed during the weekend .

Rep. Sabatini files bill again to abolish red-light cameras in Florida

Rep. Anthony Sabatini is trying again to turn off red-light traffic cameras with a bill he has filed in the Florida House for the legislative session that starts in March.

Sabatini, R-Howey-in-the-Hills, is sponsoring a measure (HB 6009) that calls for a repeal of the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Program law. The 2010 law, named after a man killed by a motorist who ran a red light, authorized the use of red-light cameras throughout the state.

Sabatini has previously said the law isn’t altering bad driving behavior and that it punishes working-class people with $158 tickets for “taking a right on red, failing to stop or just barely crossing the line when a camera is at an intersection.”

Florida senators seek to make COVID-19′s booze-to-go rule permanent

Two state senators have uncorked separate proposals to make permanent a coronavirus emergency order that has allowed restaurants and other food establishments with liquor licenses to include alcohol with “to-go” orders.

Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, filed measures that would allow a business holding a state alcohol license to sell or deliver spirited beverages by the package for off-site consumption. The proposals would require the liquid to be in a sealed container and to be part of a food order.

DeSantis included what he calls “alcohol to go” in a March executive order to help provide a source of revenue for restaurants, which had been forced to scale back their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has backed the idea of making the change permanent.