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Agriculture Commissioner Fried: Florida Has Seen a 550 Percent Increase in Pediatric COVID-19 Cases Over the Last Month

Photo: Rachid Oucharia
Photo: Rachid Oucharia

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried held her daily coronavirus update today and reported some staggering figures for Florida. 

Fried says some 15,840 Floridians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and 48.9 percent of all ICU beds in the state are occupied by someone with the virus. 

“If Florida were a country, it would be the second most infected place on the planet."

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Fried says rising pediatric cases and hospitalizations has not dissuaded Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis from walking back his ban on mask mandates in K-12 schools.

“Florida has seen a 550 percent increase in COVID cases among children and a 520 percent increase in children hospitalized with COVID over the last month.”

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This news comes as the White House Coronavirus Task Force found 40 percent of all new COVID-19-related hospitalizations in the US come from Florida and Texas.

Danielle Prieur covers education in Central Florida.