Editor’s Note: As of Aug. 16, the FAU COVID-19 tracker has been reset and updated to record on-campus during the Fall 2021 semester. The FAU section of this article has been accurately updated to reflect this change.

Palm Beach County started the school year with more than 1,000 students being sent home due to COVID safety concerns. Governor DeSantis stands firm in his decision to ban mask mandates from schools, but the Biden administration is looking to interfere.

FAU

FAU currently has eight on-campus COVID-19 cases, five students and three employees. 87.5% of the cases are on the Boca Raton campus and 12.5% of the cases are on the Jupiter campus.

The cumulative number of cases on-campus during the fall semester is now nine. 

PALM BEACH COUNTY

This week, Palm Beach County saw a 263 increase in the average number of COVID cases daily from last week. The county is experiencing an average of 1,114 new COVID cases per day as of Aug. 13.

The increase in cases is not only affecting adults, but also children and teenagers with 440 students in the county quarantining after two days of school.

“Most of the 440 have not tested positive for COVID, but they presumably were exposed to someone with the virus. The school district on Thursday reported only 51 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the school system — 37 students and 14 employees,” according to the Sun-Sentinel on Aug. 12.

According to WPTV, more than 1,000 PBC students have been told to stay home from school due to COVID-19 concerns as of Aug. 13.

“According to new numbers from the School District of Palm Beach County, as of 10:15 a.m. Friday, 1,020 students are at home,” WPTV reported. 

FLORIDA

This week, the state of Florida reached a daily average of 21,244 COVID cases, a 3,124 increase from last week. 

Hospitalizations are also on the rise with 15,796 COVID patients in the hospital as of Aug. 13 according to the New York Times.

The Times reported that Florida is recording 160.7 COVID-related deaths per day as well.

According to the New York Times, almost every county in Florida is labeled as an extremely high risk for unvaccinated citizens.

Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to defund Florida schools that required masks but on Aug. 10, the Biden administration announced that it would be looking into ways to interfere. 

The Washington Post reported that, “the Biden administration is examining whether it can direct unused stimulus funds to support educators in Florida who may defy the governor’s order against mask mandates in schools.”

Kendall Little is the Managing Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @klittlewrites.