Cape Coral City Council salary, stipend won’t appear on November ballotMove forward or out? Many on Fort Myers Beach making tough choices amid Hurricane Ian recovery
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, there have been 9,008 positive cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Florida. The case count includes 8,694 Florida residents and 314 non-Florida residents. There are 129 deaths reported and 1,167 hospitalizations, according to the Florida Department of Health. There have been 9,008 positive tests administered in Florida and 71,348 tests have come back negative. The remainder are still pending, according to the FDOH website. One of the newly reported deaths was a person who tested positive for COVID-19 in Collier County. STATEWIDE NUMBERS Total number of cases: 9,008 (up from 8,010) Deaths: 145 (up from 129) SOUTHWEST FLORIDA NUMBERS Total in SWFL: 506 (up from 448) Deaths: 15 (up from 14) Lee County: 275 (up from 245) Collier County: 178 (up from 161) Charlotte County: 38 (up from 28) DeSoto County: 8 (up from 7) Glades County: 3 (no change) Hendry County: 4 (no change) Click HERE for a SWFL case-by-case breakdown – updated daily. NOW HIRING: SWFL companies adding jobs as business picks up amid coronavirus crisis LATEST CLOSURES: Southwest Florida business updates and store closings THURSDAY COVID-19 HEADLINES Options for you if you’ve recently lost your health insurance What’s being done to help small businesses and newly unemployed workers Lee County leaders working to clarify what changes when executive order goes into effect WATCH WEDNESDAY’S NEWS CONFERENCES: 4 p.m. Lee County government press conference. WATCH HERE 4:30 p.m. Gov. DeSantis gives a daily briefing on COVID-19. WATCH HERE 5 p.m. White House Coronavirus Task Force daily update Youngest confirmed COVID-19 patients in SWFL The Florida Department of Health dashboard confirms the youngest cases for the coronavirus in Southwest Florida counties are in Charlotte County and Collier County currently. An infant in Charlotte County has tested positive for COVID-19. And there is a 6-year-old in Collier County who has tested positive for COVID-19. Governor issues order to stay home, limit travel to essential services Gov. Ron DeSantis is issuing an executive order that will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, April 3, asking all Floridians to “limit movement to only essential services and activities,” and stay at home. He said, “it is an order for individuals to stay close to home.” It does not force non-essential businesses to close, but the public is advised to stay home as much as possible. The governor says non-essential businesses may be able to do something else such as deliveries, but those unable to do so, like salons, would have to close. Your movements should be limited to essential things like work, grocery shopping, getting prescriptions, and such. You can see a full list of what Homeland Security considers essential services here. READ MORE DOCUMENT: Click here to read Executive Order 20-91 in its entirety. LEE COUNTY EXPANDS CLOSURES Parks: All Lee County parks and Conservation 20/20 preserves will close until further notice beginning Thursday night, with the exception of boat ramps. County-owned boat ramps will remain open for regular hours at this time. LeeTran: Lee County Transit (LeeTran) will adjust fixed-route schedules beginning Friday, April 3, to operate a modified Sunday service schedule. LeeTran will operate the modified schedule seven days a week as the county responds to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ safer-at-home order for non-essential services. LeeTran’s Passport service is not impacted by this operational change. Until further notice, all routes that run on a typical Sunday – except the previously suspended Gold Line and beach trams and trolleys – will remain in operation. In addition, LeeTran will add the following routes to the modified Sunday schedule: 5, 10, 30, 40, 60, 80, 160 and 515. Information: All of Lee County’s previously announced closings, operational changes, links to Constitutional Offices, county news conferences and news releases are available at www.leegov.com/covid-19. IF YOU FEEL SICK: The Florida Department of Health has opened a 24-hour COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours. LINK: Florida Department of Health COVID-19 updates <span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span> *The map is best viewed on a desktop computer. If you don’t see the map above tap HERE for a fullscreen version.