Palm Beach County is experiencing a shortage of ICU beds due to COVID-19 patients. The university is reporting 57 active cases on campus, bringing the cumulative number of on-campus cases during the fall semester to 111.

FAU

FAU currently has 57 active COVID-19 cases across four campuses. 84.2% of cases were reported on the Boca Raton campus and 8.8% were reported on the Jupiter campus. 

46 of the 57 cases are university students while the rest are employees.

The university announced that as of Aug. 24, vaccines are now available on campus. University officials are also working to finalize a vaccine incentive program for unvaccinated students. Students who join the program will receive a $150 prepaid debit card once fully vaccinated. 

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Palm Beach County is currently averaging 1,320 COVID-19 cases daily. The average has increased 19% in the past two weeks, according to the New York Times.

The county only has seven ICU beds available due to COVID-19 hospitalizations. As of Aug. 26, 951 adults and 16 children in the county are being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals, according to the Palm Beach Post.

FLORIDA

Florida is reporting an average of 22,556 new COVID-19 cases per day. The average has increased 6% in the past two weeks.

Currently, every county in Florida is labeled as an extremely high-risk area by the New York Times.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates has received pushback from Florida schools over the past few weeks. School districts such as Broward, Alachua, and Palm Beach have defied the governor’s ban and required their students to wear masks.

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.