Christine Sexton

Bill filed shortly after Florida’s Surgeon General was accused of spreading false medical statements.

“Florida will completely reject fear as a way of making policies in public health.”

“We see as we open the school year, it was truly what I call the perfect storm.”

Florida has been a hotbed for COVID-19 in recent weeks as the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus has spread.

The AARP report showed that Florida lagged in vaccinating nursing home residents, with 73 percent of residents considered fully vaccinated.

The statewide vaccination rate for children between 24 and 35 months old who rely on county health departments was 79.3 percent in 2021, a drop from 93.4.

DeSantis would not say Thursday whether he would ban hospitals from requiring staff to get vaccinated but made clear he’s not a fan of the idea.

The total is up from an estimated Medicaid enrollment of 4.524 million people for the recently completed 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Twelve Florida hospitals reported having a “critical staffing shortage” as of Monday.

The surge in hospitalizations has come as the overall number of reported infections has risen dramatically in recent weeks.

With the increase in cases Tuesday, Florida’s seven-day “moving” average of new cases was 13,502.

Health care providers ranging from Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville to small physicians’ offices are beginning to put requirements in place for staff members to get vaccinated.

“While hospitals in our state were filling up, DeSantis was shouting about ‘Freedom over Faucism,’” said Ashby who leads the group of 405 Florida physicians.

The number of COVID-19 infections in Florida jumped from 10,459 cases during the week of June 11 to 45,603 cases during the week of July 9, according to state data.

85 percent of physicians who certified patients for marijuana during the 12-month time span wrote orders for smokable marijuana.

Florida last week accounted for one in five new COVID-19 cases nationally, according to the federal government.

Nikki Fried, a Democrat running to unseat the Republican governor in 2022, was the only member of the clemency board to oppose.

The variant now accounts for the majority of the coronavirus cases in the U.K.

“The Orlando community right now is bracing for the five-year remembrance, and for Gov. DeSantis to veto funding for Pulse survivors and families is just cruel.”