Flagler County School Board member Janet McDonald falsely claimed at a workshop that overall deaths are down this year, that masks are harmful, testing unreliable, and that the district should focus on “wellness” rather than additionally “ramp-up” safety measures. She did so days from the memorial for Tom Russell, the FPC principal who died of complications from Covid.
Flagler County Health Department
Flagler Schools Will Replace Most Covid-Positive Alert Letters With Web-Based Dashboard Updated Daily
A new dashboard tracking positive Covid cases throughout the school district will go live Jan. 4. Parents and others have grown increasingly jaded with the Flagler school district’s drizzle of notification letters whenever positive Covid cases are confirmed.
As Covid Deaths Reach 46 in Flagler, Local Officials Detail Vaccination Plans and Refute Anti-Vaxxers’ Disinformation
Dr. Stephen Bickel and Bob Snyder of the Flagler Health Department outlined the logistics of vaccinating all residents and refuted disinformation about the dangers of vaccines, describing how individuals may feel after getting vaccinated and what the chances are of having adverse reactions.
Democrats Attack DeSantis Handling of Covid as Unemployment Claims, Cases and Deaths Rise
Democratic senators renewed pleas for the governor’s office to provide more data about the impact of the virus on the state’s health-care industry and to lift a limitation on the ability of local governments to enforce coronavirus regulations such as mask mandates.
Officials Discredit False Rumors About FPC Principal Tom Russell as His Covid Battle Continues
Sometime on Monday a rumor started flying around Volusia County that Tom Russell, the Flagler Palm Coast High School principal and former Volusia County superintendent, had died. By evening the rumor was rampant in Flagler County as well. The rumor, which has upset Russell’s family, is false.
State Police Raid Home of Rebekah Jones, Ex-Florida Health Department Whistleblower on Covid Stats
Rebekah Jones was fired earlier this year after complaining that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration was manipulating Covid-19 data to make the virus appear less prevalent as the governor pushed to reopen Florida’s economy.
43rd Flagler Resident Dies of Covid; Local Covid Hospitalizations at 15; Fire Chief Out Sick, County Refuses to Say Who’s In Charge
Some 47 Palm Coast city government employees are currently out either directly or indirectly affected by Covid, but the county is refusing to disclose numbers, or say who’s leading the fire department, whose interim chief, Joe King, has been out with a covid diagnosis.
Flagler Sees Highest 2-Week Tally Yet as Covid Hits School, County and City Leaders and Passes 1 Million Mark in State
Leaders in Palm Coast, the Flagler County Fire Department and the district’s largest school are battling Covid-19 in a two-week stretch that’s also seen the highest number of infections in schools, where the plan is to continue the option of remote learning past Christmas.
Two School Districts Had Different Mask Policies. Only One Had a Teacher on a Ventilator.
Eleven states let school districts decide whether students and staff must wear masks. One Georgia middle school where masks were optional–only about half of the children wore them–became the center of an outbreak.
‘That Covid Kicked My Butt’: Flagler Infections Reach 2nd-Highest Weekly Total, 32 in Schools
Flagler County has the 10th-lowest average in the last seven days among Florida’s 67 counties. But those are relative and deceptive numbers that appear better only in relation to much worse numbers elsewhere. In the absolute local numbers remain dismal–and dangerous–by any measure.
How the ‘Massive’ Rollout of the Covid Vaccine Will Happen in Phases in Flagler and Palm Coast This Spring
Health care workers and first responders will get the vaccine first, followed by residents at large. The health department will use the same infrastructure it uses for Covid-19 testing, but on a more massive scale–assuming the more than 112,000 doses needed to approach herd immunity in Flagler are available by spring.
Covid Hospitalizations Up 25% in 2 Weeks Statewide, Flagler Cases Above 100 for 3rd Week In a Row
As Gov. Ron DeSantis adopts a dangerous policy of letting the coronavirus run its course to build herd immunity, case loads are steadily rising in Florida and remain high in Flagler, suggesting that the surge experienced across the country will likely cascade over Florida with colder weather and more indoor activities.
Flagler Health Department’s Covid Testing and Flu Shot Sites for November 7 through 14
Here’s the most current information on covid-19 and flu-shot locations and times across Flagler County, as provided by the Flagler County Health Department.
How Covid Death Counts Become the Stuff of Conspiracy Theories
Trump’s recent assertions have fueled conspiracy theories on Facebook and elsewhere that doctors and hospitals are fudging numbers to get paid more. They’ve also triggered anger from the medical community.
Flagler Reaches 40 Covid-Related Deaths, Hospitalizations Up, Florida’s Daily Average Back Above 4,000
Covid hospitalizations were back up to 7 over the weekend at AdventHealth Palm Coast after bottoming out at 2, and Flagler’s coronavirus case load totaled 227 in the last two weeks, signaling more hospitalizations ahead.
Covid Cases Rising Again in Flagler and Florida, Pointing to ‘Third Wave’; DeSantis Relaxes Nursing Home Visits
Four weeks after the governor lifted all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses, Covid-19 cases are again rising in Flagler County and Florida, mirroring on a smaller scale a surge cascading across the country and sparing few states as officials speak of a third wave of the pandemic on the cusp of the holiday season.
Two Covid-Related Deaths Bring Flagler’s Total to 36; Florida’s 7-Day Average Is Up 29% From 2 Weeks Ago
In Flagler, the weekly case load continues to to remain stubbornly high, relative to the summer spike, even though relative to other counties in the state Flagler is in better shape. It has the 22nd lowest rate of infection, out of 67 counties, based on the last seven days’ average.
Covid Death Rate in Florida’s Nursing Homes Exceeded the National Average in Last 4 Weeks, Infections Are Double
The rate of infected nursing-home residents in Florida was 4.5 percent, compared to 2.6 percent nationally. Moreover, the rate of infected staff members in Florida nursing homes was 3.9 per 100 residents, exceeding the national average of 2.5 per 100 residents.
With 33rd and 34th Deaths, More Flagler Residents Have Died of Covid in 7 Months Than in Car Crashes in Any Year
The number of confirmed covid deaths so far means that the disease is the eighth leading cause of death in Flagler County, ahead of suicide and Parkinson’s, and about even with deaths from Alzheimer’s. At the current rate, covid is on pace to become the sixth leading cause of death this year, ahead of diabetes.
I Endorse Jacinda Ardern
What country of 5 million has 300 fewer overall coronavirus cases than Flagler County, seven fewer covid-related deaths and zero mendacious elected officials who pat themselves on the back in the face of infections, suffering and cavalier attitudes?
Bunnell Joins Palm Coast and Ag Museum in Cancelling Halloween Gigs; Sheriff’s Car Event Gridlocks
Bunnell’s big annual Halloween event at Saw Mill Estates was cancelled as the city worried of becoming the next superspreader, and the CDC is advising against large trick-or-treating or trunk-or-treating events. The sheriff’s trunk-or-treat event at Rymfire Tuesday drew an outsized response and complaints about delays.
3rd Covid Death Linked to Social Club of Palm Coast Superspreaders, and 2 More Bring Flagler’s Total to 32
Less than two days after confirming three more covid-related deaths this week, the Flagler Health Department this morning confirmed three more, including a third death related to the August superspreader events at the Social Club of Palm Coast. The Club meanwhile has reopened and is advertising its social events on its Facebook page without a word about the victims.
Three More Covid Deaths Bring Flagler’s Total to 29 Even as New Infection Numbers Stabilize
The continuing death toll is a reflection of covid’s unavoidable reality: while the number of new infections in the state and in Flagler have fallen and stabilized since the summer’s peak, the numbers have done so at a relatively high level.
Health Department Chief Rips Social Club of Palm Coast for Preventable Covid “Illness and Tragedy”
The County Commission asked Flagler Health Department Chief Bob Snyder to explain the superspreader event at the Social Club of Palm Coast that led to dozens of infections and two deaths, and Snyder did not hold back placing the responsibility for the “tragedy” squarely on the club’s non-enforcement of masking and social distancing rules.
Our Toothless Mask Mandates
Americans have gotten used to all sorts of mandates, from cleaning up after dogs to stopping at intersections. There’s no reason it should be this hard to enforce ones around the coronavirus.
3 Flagler Residents Die of Covid, Raising Local Toll to 26; Health Department Expecting Rapid Tests Soon
The latest Flagler County victims of covid-19 were 67, 73 and 77. There are 16 patients with a covid diagnosis at AdventHealth Palm Coast, though covid-related numbers have declined in Flagler schools, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Grinding Past “Mini-Surge,” Flagler Records Its 24th Covid Death as Florida Exceeds 700,000 Cases
Flagler County continues to experience a significant number of infections, though totals have fallen for two successive weeks, down to 80 in the week ending Sept. 26, from 109 the previous week and 139 the week before that, with a little over 100 tests a day being administered on average.
DeSantis Lifts All Restrictions on Restaurants and Businesses and Prohibits Local Constraints
DeSantis is decoupling for good the connection between science and public health on one hand and the economy on the other, opting exclusively for a focus on business measures in hopes of spurring consumer confidence. That confidence, however, continues to lag as individuals’ apprehensions continue to drive behavior.
Covid ‘Superspreader’ Night and Other Events at Social Club of Palm Coast Cause at Least 2 Deaths and Up to 50 Infections
An August 28 singing night at the Social Club of Palm Coast on Old Kings Road, where people sang and socialized, many without masks or social distancing, triggered a rare covid-19 superspreader event whose toll in infections and deaths the Flagler Health Department is still tallying.
31 Test Positive At Grand Oaks Rehab; Flagler’s Covid Death Toll Up to 21 as Cases Spike Again to Near Peak
Two more covid-related deaths were added to Flagler’s tally and a serious spike in cases at the Grand Oaks rahab and nursing home, in schools and at social clubs has resulted in a return of near-peak case loads for the county.
Heroes
If Flagler County had a Nobel Prize, Flagler Health Department Chief Bob Snyder and Dr. Stephen Bickel, the medical director there, would have won it this year for their management of the coronavirus pandemic, absurd claims against them notwithstanding.
Flagler Sees 3 More Covid Deaths, New Spike in Cases and Hospitalizations; 14 Cases at Old Kings Elementary
There’s been 184 new cases in the last 14 days alone in Flagler, and 28 positive cases in the Flagler County school district through today since school reopened on Aug. 24, half of them at Old Kings Elementary, as a renewed spike has the local health department chief concerned.
State Puts Gag Order on Flagler Health Department’s Public Release of Covid Numbers in Schools
The state’s gag order falls as the Flagler health department was preparing to issue a weekly reports of cases in schools, and as a drizzle of covid cases continues to affect Flagler schools, with a few classrooms, individual faculty and students required to quarantine. The district intends to issue some of the information.
‘Guerilla Epidemiology’: How Palm Coast Sewers Are Helping Guide Health Department’s Covid Strategy
Palm Coast and the Flagler Health Department unveiled an innovative way to conduct covid-19 surveillance by measuring the viral load in city sewers, and overlaying the findings according to six geographical areas where testing of individuals is then targeted accordingly.
16th Covid Death in Flagler; Old Kings and Bunnell Quarantine 2 Classes; District Will Issue Weekly Covid Report
In a series of development, and as a drizzle of cases continue to develop on local campuses, the Flagler Health Department and the school district will issue weekly reports detailing where in schools covid-19 cases have been confirmed, in contrast with Volusia County, where the district is refusing to disclose any such information.
No Symptoms? No Testing. CDC Sticks By Controversial New Guideline Despite States’ Backlash
In an about-face reportedly prompted by the Trump administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week quietly narrowed its guidelines for Covid-19 testing — upending previous recommendations that all people exposed to the virus should get tested, whether they have symptoms or not.
3 Covid Cases at Bunnell and Old Kings Elementary, 2 at FPC; 21 Cases at 7 Assisted Living Facilities
Flagler County’s Covid-19 numbers have been trending downward for the last five weeks. But new infections have emerged in schools as faculty and staff returned to campuses and, after a long period of calm, in more than half a dozen local assisted living facilities.
Flagler Records 14th Covid Death; 15% of Flagler Children Tested Are Positive a Week Before School
Florida and Flagler continues to add new infections at elevated rates even as the overall numbers have fallen from their July peak. Despite the decline, the state is experiencing new cases at a rate of nearly 7,000 a day, averaged out over the past seven days.
Dying Young: The Health Care Workers in Their 20s Killed by Covid-19
While covid-19 takes a far deadlier toll on elderly people than on young adults, an investigation of front-line health care worker deaths uncovered numerous instances when staff members under age 30 were exposed on the job and also succumbed.
Flagler Crosses the 1,000 Mark in Covid Cases as It Edges Past Peak, But Significant Load Persists
Even as Flagler crossed past 1,000 covid cases, key trends have been falling from the peak of mid-July, though if numbers are stabilizing, they are doing so at still high numbers relative to the April wave.
Flagler Beach’s Bruce Garrison One of 2 More Covid-Related Deaths, Bringing Flagler’s Total to 14
Bruce Garrison, 66, had been a supervisor at Flagler Beach’s city-run sanitation department. His death and that of a 69-year-old man bring Flagler County’s total to 14, including two non-residents, as covid-19 cases nearly tripled locally since the beginning of July.
Flagler Health Department’s Medical Chief Rebukes ‘Covid Minimizers’ as Deaths Surge and Hospitalizations Persist
Dr. Stephen Bickel, the medical director at the Flagler and Volusia health departments, criticized “covid minimizers” for seizing on rogue data to diminish the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic, hurting efforts to fight it.
Flagler’s Free Clinic Extends Hours to Accommodate Unemployed or Uninsured due to Covid
The Flagler Free Clinic has extended operating hours to assist anyone who has become unemployed or lost their medical insurance due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Flagler Adds 2 More Covid Deaths, for Total of 12; Flagler Children’s Overall Positivity Rate at 10%
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 55 Flagler County children ages 17 or younger have tested positive out of 545 tested, yielding a positivity rate of 10.1 percent–a rate higher than commonly assumed.
Underfunded and Under Threat: Hollowed-Out Public Health System Faces More Cuts Amid Virus
The U.S. public health system has been starved for decades and lacks the resources to confront the worst health crisis in a century. In Florida, 2% of state spending goes to public health. Spending by local health departments in the state fell 39%, from a high of $57 in inflation-adjusted dollars per person in the late 1990s to $35 per person last year.
Flagler Covid Cases Set New Record for the Week, Including 6 Children 14 Or Younger; 22 in Treatment at AdventHealth
The latest Flagler County residents to test positive include girls age 2, 5 and 8 and boys age 8, 9 and 14, which raises concern for school and health officials looking at the reopening of local schools.
5th Covid Death in Eight Days in Flagler; 9 Year Old Dies in Putnam; Florida Reports Record 173 Deaths
The latest person to die locally is a 73-year-old man, bringing the total number of Covid-related deaths in the county to at least 10. Flagler has recorded 112 new cases in five days this week, with a rising positivity rate.
Flagler School Board Supports Pushing Back Opening to Aug. 24; Up to 40% May Opt for Remote Learning
The Flagler School Board supports its superintendent’s request to delay school’s opening to Aug. 28 for students, and at least to Aug. 10 for faculty, to give staff more time to prepare for a radically different school-campus landscape that may be missing up to 40 percent of in-person students.
Student Athlete Tests Positive at Matanzas High as FHSAA Opts for Regular-Season Schedule Against Advice
Athletes in several school sports have been preparing for the fall season, which is set to resume at the same time as school’s resumption on Aug. 10, though Covid-19 cases are surging in Flagler and Florida.
For Covid Tests, the Question of Who Pays Comes Down to Interpretation
Who pays when all employees are required to have a negative Covid test in order to return to work? Or if a factory tests workers every two weeks? Or just because someone wants to know for their own peace of mind?