Florida's Latest News

DeSantis urges Biden administration to send Florida more monoclonal antibodies

Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging the federal government to send between 30,000 and 40,000 more doses of monoclonal antibody treatments to Florida.

The call from Florida’s top elected official comes as COVID-19 cases climb to record heights. It also comes amid renewed tension between state and federal officials over the monoclonal treatments, which are given to vulnerable patients after exposure to COVID-19.

“We have the ability, and we will, immediately turn on additional sites as soon as the federal government gives us the supply,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Fort Lauderdale.

The governor said his administration would set up additional state-run monoclonal antibody sites in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and a site in central Florida if the state gets enough doses from the federal government.

Proposal could lead to cameras in classrooms

School districts could adopt policies that lead to installing cameras in classrooms and requiring teachers in the classrooms to wear microphones, under a House proposal.

Rep. Bob Rommel, R-Naples, filed the measure (HB 1055) for consideration during the 2022 legislative session, which will start Jan. 11.

Cameras would have to be located at the front of classrooms and would have to be capable of recording audio and video of all areas of the rooms, under the bill.

School districts would be required to notify students and parents, as well as school employees assigned to classrooms, before installing cameras. The bill calls for schools to retain copies of video recordings for at least three months.

If cameras captured a classroom “incident” that leads to the abuse or neglect of a student, parents of students involved in the incident could request to see footage.

Florida COVID update: Hospitalizations up by 210 in the state, still under delta peak

There were 5,425 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Sunday report of data from 259 hospitals. That’s 210 more than Saturday’s report from 260 hospitals.

Patients with COVID-19 take up 9.55% of all inpatient beds in the latest report, compared to 9.20 % among Saturday’s reporting hospitals. Of the people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Florida, 585 were in intensive-care units, an increase of 30 from Friday’s report. That represents about 9.37% of the state’s ICU beds, compared to 8.92% the previous day.

The omicron variant, so far, has not been as deadly as the delta variant surge last summer nor are hospitalizations approaching the records set during that July through September wave. At delta’s August peak, more than 15,000 patients were hospitalized in Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Florida pulls in nearly $400 million more in taxes than expected

Florida lawmakers got another boost last week as they prepare to start the 2022 legislative session and draw up a new state budget.

The state in November collected $398.8 million more in general-revenue taxes than expected, continuing a series of months of higher-than-projected revenues, according to a report released by state economists.

That is good news for lawmakers, in part, because general revenue plays a critical role in paying for schools, health care and prisons.

The report on Thursday echoed earlier analyses that pointed to consumers continuing to spend after saving money earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it cited issues such as child-tax credit changes that were part of a federal stimulus law.