Tim Aten Knows: FDOT plans flyover ramps at Davis-951 intersectionStreaming Now: Interim Lee County School Superintendent speaks at State of Our Schools breakfast
Tim Aten Knows: FDOT plans flyover ramps at Davis-951 intersection The Florida Department of Transportation intends to provide motorists with more options to alleviate the traffic congestion in that busy intersection of county, state and federal roads.
FORT MYERS Streaming Now: Interim Lee County School Superintendent speaks at State of Our Schools breakfast The Lee County School District has had a tough school year amid a teacher shortage, pay problems, bus problems, and new leadership changes.
Immokalee Immokalee High School students learn financial lessons amid tough economic times The Suncoast Credit Union Finance Academy at Immokalee High School is taking a proactive approach to teaching students about money.
CAPE CORAL Mother of teenager accused of the murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller to appear in court The mother of a 16-year-old accused of being involved in the murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller is set to appear in court for obstructing justice.
The Weather Authority A breezy onshore wind keeps coastal communities cooler this Friday The Weather Authority is tracking a warmer Friday morning, then a breezy offshore wind will cool off the coastal areas of Southwest Florida in the afternoon.
NAPLES Friday’s Furry Friends: Vinnie, Miley For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Collier County Domestic Animal Services to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
NAPLES Collier County JROTC instructor fired for alleged sexual misconduct A teenage girl claims her JROTC instructor made sexual comments, touched her, asked her on a date and told her to keep her mouth shut.
EAST FORT MYERS Redeveloping plan to modify East Fort Myers Southwest Florida is often called paradise, but some areas like East Fort Myers don’t live up to that. Now, the city is looking to change that.
FORT MYERS Dunbar High School works to beat the heat during spring practice Spring practice is heating up in more ways than one. High school teams are braving the elements right now.
Collier County Escaping an abusive partner – the ins and outs of injunctions for protection Survivors of domestic violence often seek an injunction, but for some, it may not be the best option to get out of a bad situation.
ESTERO Gulfshore Business honors 10 women for their contributions to business and Southwest Florida Lois Thome emceed a Gulfshore Business luncheon Thursday recognizing 10 local women for their contributions to SWFL.
NORTH NAPLES North Naples golf pro will have his sister caddy at PGA Championship Evan Bowser, the first assistant golf pro at LaPlaya Golf Club, will have his sister Elayna caddy for him at PGA Championship.
Person airlifted after crash on SR-31 near Bermont Road At least two people are hurt in another wreck on the roads on State Road 31 in Charlotte County.
Palm Beach Blvd. crash caused massive backups Two lanes are closed on Palm Beach Boulevard because of a crash near Orange River Boulevard.
Getting people back into their homes after storms For months, parts of our community have been involved in a back and forth with FEMA over the 25% flood insurance discount.
Tim Aten Knows: FDOT plans flyover ramps at Davis-951 intersection The Florida Department of Transportation intends to provide motorists with more options to alleviate the traffic congestion in that busy intersection of county, state and federal roads.
FORT MYERS Streaming Now: Interim Lee County School Superintendent speaks at State of Our Schools breakfast The Lee County School District has had a tough school year amid a teacher shortage, pay problems, bus problems, and new leadership changes.
Immokalee Immokalee High School students learn financial lessons amid tough economic times The Suncoast Credit Union Finance Academy at Immokalee High School is taking a proactive approach to teaching students about money.
CAPE CORAL Mother of teenager accused of the murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller to appear in court The mother of a 16-year-old accused of being involved in the murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller is set to appear in court for obstructing justice.
The Weather Authority A breezy onshore wind keeps coastal communities cooler this Friday The Weather Authority is tracking a warmer Friday morning, then a breezy offshore wind will cool off the coastal areas of Southwest Florida in the afternoon.
NAPLES Friday’s Furry Friends: Vinnie, Miley For this week’s Friday’s Furry Friends, WINK visits the Collier County Domestic Animal Services to showcase two adorable animals ready to be adopted.
NAPLES Collier County JROTC instructor fired for alleged sexual misconduct A teenage girl claims her JROTC instructor made sexual comments, touched her, asked her on a date and told her to keep her mouth shut.
EAST FORT MYERS Redeveloping plan to modify East Fort Myers Southwest Florida is often called paradise, but some areas like East Fort Myers don’t live up to that. Now, the city is looking to change that.
FORT MYERS Dunbar High School works to beat the heat during spring practice Spring practice is heating up in more ways than one. High school teams are braving the elements right now.
Collier County Escaping an abusive partner – the ins and outs of injunctions for protection Survivors of domestic violence often seek an injunction, but for some, it may not be the best option to get out of a bad situation.
ESTERO Gulfshore Business honors 10 women for their contributions to business and Southwest Florida Lois Thome emceed a Gulfshore Business luncheon Thursday recognizing 10 local women for their contributions to SWFL.
NORTH NAPLES North Naples golf pro will have his sister caddy at PGA Championship Evan Bowser, the first assistant golf pro at LaPlaya Golf Club, will have his sister Elayna caddy for him at PGA Championship.
Person airlifted after crash on SR-31 near Bermont Road At least two people are hurt in another wreck on the roads on State Road 31 in Charlotte County.
Palm Beach Blvd. crash caused massive backups Two lanes are closed on Palm Beach Boulevard because of a crash near Orange River Boulevard.
Getting people back into their homes after storms For months, parts of our community have been involved in a back and forth with FEMA over the 25% flood insurance discount.
BOSTON, MA – OCTOBER 22: An RN hands off a coronavirus sample to medical assistant Bettie Cleveland at a COVID-19 testing site set up by Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center at Prince Hall Grand Lodge in Grove Hall in Boston’s Dorchester on Oct. 22, 2020. Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center set up mobile testing to help their community members who were disproportionally affected by COVID-19, the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan have seen some of the highest incident rates of the Coronavirus in Boston. In July of 2020 they began to administer tests in the city at various locations. The Grove Hall location is available for walk up testing every Thursday at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge from 10:00am – 3:00 PM. (Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) A video circulating on Facebook makes misleading claims about a recent World Health Organization notice regarding COVID-19 testing. The video, created by former Minnesota state senator Dr. Scott Jensen, also falsely suggests an effort is underway to change the way COVID-19 cases are tallied so it will appear cases are falling under President Joe Biden. Jensen, a family physician, told The Associated Press his video repeated key points he had read in a Feb. 6 commentary piece that appeared on the website of the Independent Institute, a libertarian and conservative-leaning think tank. ___ CLAIM: The same day that Biden took office, the World Health Organization “came up with a two-fold directive in order to have less false positive tests regarding COVID-19.” THE FACTS: The WHO’s Jan. 20 notice does not say what the video claims it says, nor is there a meaningful link between the date of the notice and Biden’s inauguration. In fact, WHO said it first issued the advisory on Dec. 14 and then distributed a second version on Jan. 20 “with some language modifications to ensure greater clarity.” The Jan. 20 communication gave laboratory professionals instructions for properly running PCR tests, which are the most sensitive kind of COVID-19 tests available. But the advisory was widely misrepresented on social media, and the WHO has issued a statement saying it had been taken out of context. “WHO did not say that PCR tests for COVID-19 are faulty,” the organization said in the statement. WHO clarified it had received just 10 reports of PCR tests that misdiagnosed SARS-CoV-2 since the beginning of 2020, both with false positives and false negatives. “After thorough investigation, WHO confirmed that tests were not always being used appropriately and in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer,” reads the statement. Dr. Jessica Justman, an epidemiology professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, explained the WHO notice reflects an effort to ensure labs perform PCR tests in a uniform way and do not set their own thresholds. “What WHO did was put out instructions to say, laboratories, you should follow instructions for use,” Justman said. __ CLAIM: Flu cases plummeted in March 2020 because doctors were misdiagnosing patients as having COVID-19. THE FACTS: Flu cases did decline after COVID-19 became widespread, but not because of widespread misdiagnosis. Justman of Columbia University called the claim “not grounded in reality.” Medical experts say that the precautions people are taking to avoid COVID-19, wearing masks and social distancing, are also driving down flu rates. “People usually transmit flu when they have symptoms. So, of course, now in society, people are really avoiding people if they have symptoms,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and associate dean at University of California San Francisco. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published last fall found that after SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, began spreading in late February 2020, the portion of flu tests that were positive fell from 20% to just 2.3%. The same report also found fewer flu tests were conducted overall. The report attributed the decline to fewer people seeking out routine healthcare during the pandemic, as well as less flu virus circulating due to efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. The report said “initially” declines in flu activity “were attributed to decreased testing, because persons with respiratory symptoms were often preferentially referred for SARS-CoV-2 assessment and testing.” But the report goes on to say, “renewed efforts by public health officials and clinicians to test samples for influenza resulted in adequate numbers tested and detection of little to no influenza virus.” __ CLAIM: On Biden’s Inauguration Day, the World Health Organization said physicians, hospitals and clinics must have a positive test to diagnose COVID-19 — which will “eliminate” a lot of cases. THE FACTS: The WHO’s notice on Jan. 20 does not say what the video claims. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the WHO has defined a “confirmed” COVID-19 case as one confirmed by at test, and that did not change on Jan. 20. The WHO dashboard showing COVID cases shows the number of cases and deaths confirmed by laboratory tests, “unless stated otherwise.” That definition has appeared since late May 2020, according to a review of an archived version of the website on the Wayback Machine. __ CLAIM: In some studies, possibly 85% of PCR tests for COVID-19 were false positives. THE FACTS: In a conversation with AP, Jensen clarified the studies he was referencing had found a high proportion of people with positive PCR tests no longer had evidence of active COVID-19 infections. Jensen could not recall the source, but in August, The New York Times reported that a review of testing data from Massachusetts, New York and Nevada indicated that up to 90 percent of people who tested positive for COVID-19 “carried barely any virus.” Jensen’s video suggested such cases were “false positives.” Dr. Dean Winslow, a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, says this is wrong. “It doesn’t mean they never had infection, it just means they are probably not very contagious right now,” he said. “We do know that people after about 10 to 14 days after onset of symptoms have lower levels of virus that are still detectable, and also appear to be much, much less contagious.” According to Winslow, the bigger problem with testing is the danger of false negatives if a person who is infected is tested before they are producing a detectable amount of the virus. ___ This article was updated to clarify how the WHO defines and reports confirmed COVID-19 cases. Since some entities, such as the CDC, include both confirmed and probable cases in COVID-19 case counts, the article was updated to focus on the WHO, which was the subject of the claim. ___ This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform. Here’s more information on Facebook’s fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536