Florida's Latest News

Florida opens monoclonal antibody treatment center at Camping World Stadium in Orlando

Florida is opening a monoclonal antibody treatment center at Camping World Stadium in Orlando to help COVID-19 patients recover, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Monday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said "monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful antigens such as viruses."

DeSantis said that, if used early when COVID-19 symptoms first surface, monoclonal antibody treatments like Regeneron have proven to "radically reduce" the chance of hospitalizations.

"At the end of the day, reducing hospital admissions has gotta be a top priority," DeSantis said. 

NCAA wants non-discrimination vow from event hosts. What does that mean for Florida?

On Aug. 3, the National Collegiate Athletic Association made a statement that could have major ramifications for Florida — one of at least nine states to have banned transgender females from participating in women’s and girls’ scholastic sports.

The NCAA Board of Governors asked hosts of future collegiate championships to “reaffirm their commitment to ensure a nondiscriminatory and safe environment for all college athletes.”

“Any host who cannot commit to the nondiscrimination policy should contact the NCAA immediately,” the statement said.

New state data shows improving COVID-19 vaccination numbers among 12- to 19-year-olds

Many parents in Florida were getting their children the COVID-19 vaccine in the past two weeks, as the school year was about to begin and as new COVID-19 case counts hit record highs, Florida Department of Health data indicates.

The number of 12- to 19-year-olds who were vaccinated in Florida was 57,571 during the week of July 30 to Aug. 5, and was 55,083 during the week of Aug. 6 to Aug. 12. That age group received 20% of the initial COVID-19 vaccinations in Florida during the past two weeks, although they account for only 9% of the overall population.

Those numbers are significantly higher than they had been for that age group in previous weeks. For example, it's about twice the 28,537 12- to 19-year-olds who were vaccinated during the week of July 9 to July 15.

Conservation groups plan to sue FWS to update Florida manatee critical habitat

Three conservation nonprofits plan to sue the federal government regarding Florida manatees' record die-off this year, they announced Monday. 

At least 905 manatee deaths were recorded between Jan. 1 and Aug. 6, mostly in Brevard County's stretch of the Indian River Lagoon, according to state wildlife data. That surpasses the previous record of 830 set in 2013.

The nonprofits want the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to recognize the biological factors threatening manatee habitat — including seagrass loss, declining water quality and waning natural warm-water refuges — and expand the pre-existing critical habitat designation outlined by the agency since 1976.