Florida averages 1,840 daily COVID cases as state sues Biden administration over vaccine mandate

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this week that the state is suing the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors, which President Joe Biden has argued is a crucial part to bringing an end to the pandemic.

DeSantis has vowed legal action over federal vaccination requirements and fought masking and vaccine rules implemented by local governments. Last week, the governor called for the Florida legislature to return for a special session to provide protections for workers in the state against vaccine mandates.

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Meanwhile, nearly three months after declaring a local state of emergency, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced this week that it would expire as the county sees lower COVID-19 infections. While Demings is allowing the state of emergency to expire, he said he will “reserve the right to put the executive order back in place to make sure we do everything possible to slow the spread.”

Local schools districts have been modifying mask requirements in recent days as COVID-19 cases continue to drop. In Orange County, the school district announced a parental opt-out option for the mask requirement, which previously required a medical note in order for a student to be exempted.

Officials with the district said parents who filled out an opt-out form with the school already do not have to send another and those who would like their child exempted from the mask requirement will need to give a signed note to the school. While masks are still required for employees, visitors and volunteers, the district said it is projecting to make masks optional for everyone after Dec. 3.

Brevard County Public Schools also updated its mask policy this week, allowing opt-out options for students in sixth grade or below. The district said students in grades 7-12 will be strongly encouraged to wear masks in class. The new policy expires Nov. 29.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted the benefits of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any potential risks, backing kid-size doses for children ages 5-11. While children are far less likely than older people to get severe COVID-19, ultimately many panelists decided it’s important to give parents the choice to protect their youngsters — especially those at high risk of illness or who live in places where other precautions, like masks in schools, aren’t being used.

The FDA cleared kid-size doses — just a third of the amount given to teens and adults — for emergency use, and up to 28 million more American children could be eligible for vaccinations as early as next week.

As decisions continue for whether younger children will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, the Biden administration announced new rules that will go into effect early next month that will require most international travelers coming to the U.S. be vaccinated against COVID-19. Under the policy, those who are vaccinated will need to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within three days of travel, while the unvaccinated must present a test taken within one day of travel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[READ THE LAST COVID-19 REPORT: Florida averages 2,188 daily COVID cases as special session called to address vaccine mandates]

Below is a breakdown of Florida COVID-19 data reported by the state on Oct. 29.

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 12,880 new cases on Friday that occurred during the past week, bringing the state’s overall total to 3,647,277 cases since the virus was first detected on March 1, 2020. That is an average of 1,840 new infections reported per day.

Even though the Florida DOH released numbers once a week, the state is still reporting daily infections to the CDC. Below is the CDC daily number, which is 24 hours behind.

Deaths

Florida reported 56 new virus-related deaths Friday from the past week but the cumulative death toll of 59,670 actually shows there have been 867 new deaths added to the state total. The state has not provided any information as to when these deaths occurred.

The state stopped reporting the number of non-residents who died in Florida with its new weekly reporting method.

Hospitalizations

The state Agency for Health Care Administration deleted its current COVID-19 hospitalization database and the state is no longer reporting how many patients have been hospitalized with the virus. However, Florida is still required to report that information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the CDC continues to release that information online. The most recent hospital numbers show 1,805 adult and 32 pediatric patients in Florida.

Positivity rate

The DOH reported the percent of positive results from coronavirus tests was 3.0% but did not provide how many people were tested during the past week. Health officials say the rate should remain between 5% and 10% to prove a community has a hold of the virus and is curbing infections.

Vaccinations

The Florida Department of Health began releasing a daily report in December 2020 on COVID-19 vaccines administered throughout the state. In the new weekly reports, the state is combining the vaccination data with the COVID-19 infection numbers.

FDOH reports 11,089,145 people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. These individuals either received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine or completed a two-shot series.

During the past week, 56,340 new people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

Central Florida region

The state is no longer providing a breakdown of county-by-county deaths or hospitalizations as of June 3. The Florida DOH is also no longer providing county numbers for non-residents who have tested positive, causing the total case numbers to drop significantly, in some counties by more than 1,000 cases.

For example, with non-resident positive cases as of June 3, Orange County had reported a total of 143,198 but with the state’s new reporting method, the county has 141,941 total cases, a difference of 1,257 positive cases.

Below is the Central Florida region breakdown of new cases and new vaccination numbers between Oct. 22 - Oct. 28, 2021.

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