Dear Friend,
Welcome to the New Year! Next week we’ll be back in Tallahassee for the beginning of Florida’s 2022 Legislative Session and we’ll restart our weekly legislative updates then too.
For now, scroll down for a your local COVID-19 update.
Onward,
Rep. Anna V. Eskamani
COVID-19 Updates
Transmission Rates
The United States is in the midst of a case spike averaging more than 300,000 new cases a day for the first time in the pandemic as holiday gatherings and travel coupled with the proliferation of the highly transmissible Omicron variant have propelled a surge across the country.
Florida reported 298,455 coronavirus cases over the seven-day period from Dec. 24-30, an average of about 42,600 infections per day. That’s a 138 percent increase in weekly infections from the previous report. The seven-day average of omicron variant infections far exceeds the 25,000 daily average the delta wave hit this past summer. Florida had 4,485 confirmed COVID-19 patients in hospitals as of Friday, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Finally, Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said Americans “don’t want to get complacent” despite reports that the omicron variant may lead to less-severe illness than previous COVID-19 strains. Read more here.
Testing Access
Orange County reopened three public testing locations yesterday, after they were closed Friday and Saturday for New Year’s. Lines have been long, with the county’s positivity rate at 32.16% as of Friday, according to the Florida Department of Health — the highest in the state.
Local officials are urging people to show up early at one of the following locations, which have been closing early due to high demand:
- South Orange Youth Sports Complex (9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 7 days a week)
- Econ Soccer Complex (9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 7 days a week)
- Barnett Park (9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 7 days a week)
Orange County officials say anyone who gets tested can request to get a rapid test and a PCR test.
Last month, President Joe Biden says the federal government will buy half a billion COVID-19 rapid test kits and distribute them free of charge to people to use at home. But despite the high public demand for tests, it will still be several more weeks before these kits are available to be shipped. Read more here.
As of 8:00am this morning, the State of Florida does not plan to open state-run testing sites. We are advocating for that to change.
COVID-19 Vaccine Updates
Everyone 5 years of age and older is now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccination at many locations including local pharmacies. A guardian must accompany minors and complete a consent form. On November 29th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that everyone ages 18 and older should get a booster shot. Click here to learn more about when to get your booster shot.
Click here to identify a vaccination location near you!
New CDC Guidance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering altering its recommendations for people with COVID-19 after it got pushback on its new guidelines, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
President Biden’s chief medical adviser said there was “some concern” that the CDC told people to isolate for five days but did not recommend that they get a negative test before leaving isolation.
As a reminder, last week the CDC cut the number of days it recommends COVID-positive people remain in isolation from 10 days to five if they are no longer showing symptoms. People are urged to wear masks for another five days after that to avoid infecting others. Read more here.
Orange County Public Schools
Orange County Public School administrators are encouraging employees and students to wear face masks ahead of the return to class following a winter break that saw record-setting numbers of COVID-19 cases as the omicron variant continues to spread.
In a phone message to parents on Saturday that was also posted to its Facebook page, the school district called for masks to be worn by all “due to the highly contagious nature” of the variant, though students currently aren’t required to do so. We will continue to advocate for the best safety standards to keep our kids and educators safe.
Also: Amid the omicron surge there is understandable anxiety among parents, particularly those with kids under 5 who can’t yet get a COVID vaccine. Click here to see advice from Dr. Ibukun Kalu, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Duke University.
Unemployment Update
Our office continues to help Floridians who are facing economic insecurity, including issues with their unemployment claims.
Per guidance from the DEO, all claimants are now advised to submit issues and inquiries through the DEO Help Center available in English, Spanish, and Creole. This includes issues with locked accounts, payments on holds, and more. If you have already done this and are still facing issues, we invite you to contact our office via this link.
We have received several questions about unemployment being tax-free for the year of 2021. At this time, the unemployment income federal tax exemption from the American Rescue Plan does not include unemployment income for 2021. This means the only way to still take advantage of the benefit is if you were paid any 2020 unemployment money late, and the payment came to you in 2021 instead of 2020. In this case, you will claim it on your 2021 tax return in 2022, and label it as unemployment income from 2020. Read more here.
Rental, Mortgage Relief & P-EBT
We are also receiving messages from Floridians who are facing issues with their rental assistance application. If you are facing an issue with OurFlorida we can contact the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and seek a status update on your application. If your application is through a local government we encourage you to contact your local City or County elected official(s).
Note: As of December 8th, all Orlando residents can temporarily apply to Orange County’s Emergency Assistance Portal. Learn more at this link.
The Homeowner Assistance Fund is a federally funded program that DEO has applied for, but the program is not currently operational. We are waiting for updates from both the federal government and DEO, and will share those specifics as soon as they have become available.
Finally, we know that many Floridians are still missing their Summer P-EBT benefits. DCF had said that funds would begin to be released on November 24th, and would stagger from there. You can read more and seek additional assistance via this link.