Florida adds 13,000 new cases
Matthew Peddie, WMFE
Florida added about 13,019 new COVID-19 cases, according to figures released by the state department of health today.
That’s an increase compared to the three prior days.
Florida is averaging about 10,500 new cases per day in the last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University analyzed by NPR.
That’s a 12% increase over the week prior, and a 10% increase from two weeks ago.
As of Friday morning, 5,182 patients were in the hospital statewide with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19.
In total, nearly 1.2 million Floridians have gotten COVID-19, and 20,690 people have died statewide.
Here's a roundup of stories you may have missed:
AdventHealth Will Add Third Vaccination Site for Employees in Daytona Beach
Danielle Prieur, WMFE
AdventHealth will open more COVID-19 vaccination sites for frontline healthcare workers at their Daytona Beach campus on Monday. About 1,600 AdventHealth doctors and nurses were vaccinated with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at the hospital’s Orlando and Celebration campuses on Wednesday and another 1,800 on Thursday. Read more here
With 1st COVID-19 vaccinations at UF Health in Villages and Leesburg, ‘science basically wins today’
Joe Byrnes, WMFE
It was an exciting moment for the head of the Covid Team at the UF Health hospitals in Leesburg and The Villages. Dr. Elias Maroun was the first staff member to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Read more here.
OCPS Prepares to Welcome 18,000 More Students Back to Face-to-Face Instruction After Winter Break
Danielle Prieur, WMFE
Superintendent Barbara Jenkins says she’s deeply concerned that coronavirus case numbers are growing in the district as schools prepare to welcome an additional 18,000 students back to in-person learning after the winter break. Read more here.
French President Macron Tests Positive For Coronavirus
Jaclyn Diaz, NPR
French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for the coronavirus and will quarantine for a week, his official residence announced Thursday. Read more here.
The Science, Logistics & PR Campaign Behind The Massive COVID-19 Vaccination Effort
Matthew Peddie, WMFE
This week, Central Florida got its first 20,000 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. Doctors and nurses on the front lines fighting the pandemic are also the first to receive the vaccine in Florida. WMFE health reporter Abe Aboraya joins Intersection to talk about the science, logistics and the PR campaign behind the massive vaccination effort getting underway. Read more here.
Disease, Fear & Misinformation: How Writers Responded To Past Pandemics
A mysterious, deadly disease spreading like wildfire; fear and speculation about its origins and how to treat and prevent it; and a pandemic that bred misinformation and mistrust of the authorities. Rollins College associate professor of English Jana Mathews says there are echoes in our response to COVID-19 in literature about the bubonic plague that swept through Europe in the Middle Ages. Listen to the interview here.