An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that top priority go to long-term care facilities and front-line health care workers, but the early allocation was always expected to fall far short of the need and require selective screening even among critical hospital workers.
Health & Society
Grand Jury Rips Florida’s Mental Health System, Citing ‘Deficiencies in Funding, Leadership and Services’
The statewide grand jury studying school safety said in the report that it is “clear to us that inadequately addressed mental health issues have the peculiar potential to spiral out over time into criminal acts and violent behavior resulting in serious injury and loss of life.”
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.
Project Share, Flagler Beach Rotary’s Christmas Gift-Giving to 1,000 Children, Needs Your Help in a Difficult Year
Rotary Club of Flagler Beach Project Share is now in its 22nd year of providing toys, clothing and bicycles to families in need at Christmas. But Covid-19 has impacted just about everything this year, and Project Share’s ability to raise funds for the annual Christmas toy drive is no exception.
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.
Appeals Court Tosses GOP Challenge to Mask Mandate in Leon, But Doesn’t Address Constitutional Issues
Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis has declined to issue a statewide mask mandate. He also issued an executive order in September that suspended collection of fines and penalties related to violations of mask requirements, but that did not prevent local governments from continuing to have the requirements.
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’s Cold-Weather Homeless Shelter, In New Home, Opens for 15 Guests With a Few Dollars’ Help from Local Governments
Flagler County’s only cold-weather shelter for the homeless moved from its old location after 12 years to Church on the Rock on U.S. 1, where it operated for the first time this year, on Monday and Tuesday nights, with security, privacy from formerly resentful neighbors, and elbow room to spare.
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.
We Need a Crisis-Proof Safety Net for Parents
The collapse of child care and traditional schooling is having a devastating effect on women in particular. Part of the problem is just plain sexism. But another part is more complicated.
Florida (and Flagler) Can Thank ‘Luck’ as Most Active Hurricane Season on Record Ends Monday
In a season that overlapped the coronavirus pandemic, most storms spun away from Florida, sparing communities double-barreled crises of responding to a major storm while contending with restrictions and safety concerns imposed by the coronavirus.
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.
Oral Arguments on Alachua’s Mask Mandate Evoke Hijabs, Nazis, KKK, Crime and, Finally, Public Health
Oral arguments about Alachua County’s mask mandate before a three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeal Monday was a spectacle of audacious leaps and strange analogies that nevertheless illustrated the sharp and far from resolved divide between mask proponents and anti-maskers, including on the judicial bench.
‘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.
Court’s Trump Appointees Strike Down Florida Bans on Bigoted ‘Conversion Therapy’ Aimed at LGBTQ Children
Two South Florida ordinances barred therapists from providing treatment or counseling that is designed to change minors’ sexual orientation or gender identity. Critics of such therapy say it harms minors who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The federal court ruled against the ban on First Amendment grounds.
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.
Flagler Public Health Director Echoes Strong CDC Directives Against Travel at Thanksgiving as Covid Surges
Bob Snyder, who heads the Flagler health department, has been warning for weeks that the combination of holiday gatherings, cooler weather and more indoor activities would result in quicker spread of the disease at a time when community spread is already out of control in much of the country and not exactly under control in Flagler.
FPC Principal Tom Russell Reveals Covid Diagnosis as Cases Rise and State Extends Remote School Option To June
Russell’s revelation occurs as cases in Flagler and in Florida are rising sharply and the surge cascading over much of the nation, now reaching catastrophic proportions in many states, is beginning to ripple in Florida, where the state agreed to extend remote-learning options in all schools through June.
From Bogus Cures to ‘Frontline Doctors’: When False Covid Information Goes Viral
False or unverified information spreading through online support groups and by way of conspiracy theorists mislead patients, undermine trust in science and medicine in general, and lead to reckless behavior that exacerbates the pandemic’s toll.
One Undisputed Winner on Election Night: Marijuana
Majorities of Americans decided in favor of every marijuana-related proposition placed before them — a clean sweep — and they did so by record margins, whether to cultivate pot, use it recreationally or use it medicinally.
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.
Affordable Care Act is Back at the Supreme Court, With 2 Million Floridians’ Health Coverage at Risk
The Supreme Court today at 10 a.m. hears oral arguments in a case that, for the third time in eight years, could result in the justices striking down the Affordable Care Act. It would affect 1.9 million Floridians, by far the largest number of enrollees in any state.
Appeals Court Will Hear Challenge to Alachua County’s Mask Mandate
The Alachua County case, which will be heard Nov. 23 by a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal, could serve as a test for mask requirements that have been approved in various parts of the state.
How Escalating Covid Cases Forced Conservative Montana to Change Its Masking Strategy
When appealing to people’s better nature and sense of community didn’t work, Montana officials began a steady escalation: adding in guilt, then public shaming, and now attempts to punish. Still, there’s little evidence that minds are being changed, and a new Republican governor-elect, Greg Gianforte, will take over in January after campaigning more on “personal responsibility” than on state-issued mandates.
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.
Stetson Student Bryson Pritchard of Ormond Beach a Finalist in 2020 Collegiate Inventors Competition
The Dyad Syringe is a two-compartment syringe where the rear is pre-filled with saline and the front is empty, which allows health-care professionals to administer a specific dosage of medication to a patient before attaching the syringe to a Luer lock on an intravenous line (IV).
Holland and Klufas Hold On, Staly Wins Re-Election, Don O’Brien and Andy Dance Win County Commission, Ed Danko, Victor Barbosa Win Council Seats
With all early voting results counted, Sheriff Rick Staly had an insurmountable lead to win re-election to his second term, as did County Commissioner Donald O’Brien. Andy Dance, the school board member, also had an insurmountable lead to win the County Commission seat Charlie Ericksen opted not to contest.
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.
Herding People to Slaughter: The Dangerous Fringe Theory Behind the Push Toward Herd Immunity
Contrary to the so-called Great Barrington declaration’s claims, a herd immunity strategy, according to the memo, will surely cause a huge number of preventable deaths, run the risk of triggering recurrent epidemics, and potentially “overwhelm the ability of healthcare systems to provide acute and routine care.”
If Trump Wins, Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting for That ACA Replacement Plan
Trump needs a contingency plan if the Supreme Court accepts his argument that the ACA should be overturned. The justices are scheduled to hear the case the week after Election Day. Administration health officials have pledged to have an alternative if the high court does as they ask. But they have refused to publicly share any details.
Teachers and Others Seek Rehearing in Court to Argue ‘Irreparable Harm’ of In-Person Schools
Attorneys for Florida’s teachers union and others point to the trial court’s factual findings, supported by clear evidence, establishing that the state had abused its powers in a way that was harmful to Floridians.” The motions pointed to continuing safety threats to teachers and other school employees.
Flagler Sheriff Lands $530,000 Federal Grant to Improve Mental Health Among Jail Inmates
The grant will allow effective training, timely screening for mental illness and substance abuse, evidence-based treatment and case management for individuals involved in the criminal justice system.
Florida Fails to Attract Bidders for Canada Drug Import Program Trump and DeSantis Touted
No private firms bid on Florida’s $30 million contract to set up and operate a drug importation program. Bids were due at the end of September. The setback is likely to delay by at least several months Florida’s effort to become the first state to import drugs.
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.
Coronavirus Displaces Obamacare as a Driving Issue For Florida Voters
Republican and Democratic strategists say the election in Florida isn’t about broad policy issues like health care, the environment, gun control or immigration. Instead it’s about fighting the coronavirus, which means different things for different Florida voters based on their political affiliations, ages and livelihoods.
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.
Rebuffing Teachers Union, Appeals Court Sides With State in Reopening of Florida Schools
Saying that “nothing in the emergency order requires any teacher or any student to return to the classroom,” a state appeals court Friday overturned a ruling that said Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran violated the Florida Constitution when he issued a July order aimed at reopening schools amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
All Palm Coast a Trail: Pink Army Run Transformed Into a Virtual ‘Parade’ Sunday, With Radio Kickoff
While the Pink Army run’s anchors will kick off the event with an hour-long program on the radio Sunday morning–The Beach FM, 92.7, and WNZF–residents across the county are encouraged to take part by creating their own walk, their own run, their own 5K anywhere of their choosing.
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.
Jevante Hamilton, 25, Indicted on 1st Degree Murder in Overdose Death of Timothy Davidson, 25
Hamilton is accused of killing Timothy J. Davidson, 25, by overdose on Aug. 24, 2019 in Palm Coast, after allegedly selling him fentanyl, and becomes the second man indicted on a murder charge following similar circumstances. In August, Joseph Colon, the first to be similarly charged in Flagler, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
‘Don’t Be Afraid of Covid’? Not Buying It, Unless Businesses Do Their Job Right
As stores, restaurants, airlines and offices try to lure clients back, this is what they need to do to earn my business: Make me feel safe — no, make me be as safe as possible. As I’ve begun to explore old haunts, some are doing a fabulous job. Others are not.
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.