Today in Florida’s COVID-19 story

5 hours ago:

From WPTV News, West Palm Beach, Florida:

“EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Fla. — Florida is not shutting down and COVID-19 “hospital admissions have slowed,” Gov. Ron DeSantis emphatically declared on Tuesday, despite yet another day of record coronavirus hospitalizations in the Sunshine State.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 11,515 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida on Monday, including 2,400 in ICU beds.”

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2 hours ago:

From The Hill:

On Tuesday, Florida hit 11,515 hospitalizations due to COVID-19, marking the third straight day that the state has broken its record. About 2,400 patients are now in intensive care. At the same time, there’s concern among experts that the Sunshine State is still weeks away from hitting its peak. The state now accounts for roughly 1 in 5 new cases nationally.

Still, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a rising Republican star who won accolades from conservatives last year for his laissez faire approach to the pandemic, has resisted calls for new mask mandates or lockdowns, arguing that such restrictions had worsened the public health and economic effects on other states.

DeSantis and the Republican-controlled state legislature have also sought to preempt county and local governments from imposing their own rules, drawing backlash from local officials.

“We’re not allowed to have mask mandates now,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said in an interview on CNN this week. “We were one of the first cities to require it and we charged a fine just to get people to do it. The governor stopped allowing us to do it and then immediately we saw a surge across our county and state when he did that.”

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1 hour ago:

From The Hill’s “Changing America” section:

Florida hospitals are being occupied by young patients amidst the delta variant that is wreaking havoc in Florida.

As Changing America previously reported, Florida is one of the fastest accelerating places infected by the delta variant.

While Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) continues to resist recommendations from health officials to mandate mask wearing and social distancing, youth in the Sunshine State are being struck with the virus, the Miami Herald reported.