By Paul Waldmiller
Did you know that Florida’s health department confirmed 4,690 new COVID-19 cases this past Saturday, along with 98 more state resident deaths as a result of the virus?
The report of new cases and deaths related to the COVID Virus comes several days after Governor DeSantis announced that all school employees and child care workers in Florida, regardless of age, will now be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
DeSantis, while speaking at a coronavirus vaccination site located in Crystal River last Thursday, stated that a new mandate from the Biden Administration, which directs very state to prioritize all educators for the vaccine, will be followed here in Florida.
Meanwhile in the Florida Legislature, House lawmakers gave final approval to HB7 last Friday morning, one day after the Governor’s Coronavirus speech. In a vote of 83-31, House members voted to give Florida businesses protection from Coronavirus lawsuits.
Language in the bill shows that if it were to pass also in the Florida Senate, followed by the governor’s signature to become law, the policy shields businesses from lawsuits if a judge believes they made “a good faith effort” to follow virus protections. Its also requires plaintiffs to provide a physician’s affidavit indicating a COVID-19 illness resulted from a business’s actions.
The number of reported cases of CORONA-19 has been steadily decreasing across Florida as immunizations have become more widely available, and as some epidemiologists have stated Florida is experiencing a “herd immunity” even without the vaccine.