Red tide advisory issued for Clam Pass and Barefoot BeachRSW offering remote parking for the holidays
Red tide advisory issued for Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach The Florida Department of Health issued a red tide advisory after presence of the algae bloom was found near Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach in Collier County.
FORT MYERS RSW offering remote parking for the holidays Southwest Florida International Airport, RSW, is offering passengers RSWRemote, a reserved holiday parking option.
CLEWISTON Clewiston man accused of possessing child pornography A Clewiston man has been arrested after allegedly possessing potentially thousands of photos and videos of child pornography.
FORT MYERS FHP speaks on impaired driving during the holidays Florida Highway Patrol held a news conference regarding National Drunk and Drugged Driving Awareness Month.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral woman accused of DUI, striking pedestrian A Cape Coral woman has been arrested after allegedly driving under the influence and crashing into a pedestrian last night.
PORT CHARLOTTE Woman accused of stealing 2 PlayStation 5 consoles and 1 Xbox Series S console from Best Buy The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office is looking to identify a woman who was seen stealing gaming consoles from Best Buy.
PUNTA GORDA Derelict boats at Gilchrist Park still awaiting removal Boats that came ashore during Hurricane Milton haven’t moved since.
BONITA SPRINGS 2 people and parrot safe after house fire in Bonita Springs 2 people and a parrot are safe after an early morning house fire in Bonita Springs.
Boundary changes vote for Collier County schools The Collier County School Board is set to vote on the proposed boundary changes.
Warmer weather continues this Tuesday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a warm afternoon with temperatures in the lower to mid-80s.
FORT MYERS Stars shine in 36th annual Rotary South All-Star Football Classic Blue beats Gold 27-7 in the 36th annual Rotary South Football Classic, which brings the top senior high school football players in Lee County.
CAPE CORAL Purring and persevering: Neighborhood cat survives bullet wound Purring and persevering through the pain, a neighborhood cat named Tommy survived being shot in the leg.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach lights up with resilience and Christmas spirit The poinsettia tree in Times Square is now shining bright; the community joined together Monday evening for the second annual tree lighting ceremony.
Miracle Moment: Two kids celebrating being cancer-free It’s time for a miracle moment. Two kids are celebrating being cancer-free this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Street name dedicated to Fort Myers Civil Rights Activist Reverend Isadore Edwards may be gone but his legacy will be forever tied to the city of Fort Myers.
Red tide advisory issued for Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach The Florida Department of Health issued a red tide advisory after presence of the algae bloom was found near Clam Pass and Barefoot Beach in Collier County.
FORT MYERS RSW offering remote parking for the holidays Southwest Florida International Airport, RSW, is offering passengers RSWRemote, a reserved holiday parking option.
CLEWISTON Clewiston man accused of possessing child pornography A Clewiston man has been arrested after allegedly possessing potentially thousands of photos and videos of child pornography.
FORT MYERS FHP speaks on impaired driving during the holidays Florida Highway Patrol held a news conference regarding National Drunk and Drugged Driving Awareness Month.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral woman accused of DUI, striking pedestrian A Cape Coral woman has been arrested after allegedly driving under the influence and crashing into a pedestrian last night.
PORT CHARLOTTE Woman accused of stealing 2 PlayStation 5 consoles and 1 Xbox Series S console from Best Buy The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office is looking to identify a woman who was seen stealing gaming consoles from Best Buy.
PUNTA GORDA Derelict boats at Gilchrist Park still awaiting removal Boats that came ashore during Hurricane Milton haven’t moved since.
BONITA SPRINGS 2 people and parrot safe after house fire in Bonita Springs 2 people and a parrot are safe after an early morning house fire in Bonita Springs.
Boundary changes vote for Collier County schools The Collier County School Board is set to vote on the proposed boundary changes.
Warmer weather continues this Tuesday afternoon The Weather Authority is tracking a warm afternoon with temperatures in the lower to mid-80s.
FORT MYERS Stars shine in 36th annual Rotary South All-Star Football Classic Blue beats Gold 27-7 in the 36th annual Rotary South Football Classic, which brings the top senior high school football players in Lee County.
CAPE CORAL Purring and persevering: Neighborhood cat survives bullet wound Purring and persevering through the pain, a neighborhood cat named Tommy survived being shot in the leg.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach lights up with resilience and Christmas spirit The poinsettia tree in Times Square is now shining bright; the community joined together Monday evening for the second annual tree lighting ceremony.
Miracle Moment: Two kids celebrating being cancer-free It’s time for a miracle moment. Two kids are celebrating being cancer-free this holiday season.
FORT MYERS Street name dedicated to Fort Myers Civil Rights Activist Reverend Isadore Edwards may be gone but his legacy will be forever tied to the city of Fort Myers.
Nurse treating a COVID-19 patient. (Credit: WINK News) A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations, as the number of patients in hospitals because of COVID-19 once again broke through the 10,000-person threshold. The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The previous record was from more than a year ago, July 23, 2020, more than a half-year before vaccinations started becoming widespread, when Florida had 10,170 hospitalizations, according to the Florida Hospital Association. Florida is now leading the nation in per capita hospitalizations for COVID-19, as hospitals around the state report having to put emergency room visitors in beds in hallways and others document a noticeable drop in the age of patients. In the past week, Florida has averaged 1,525 adult hospitalizations a day, and 35 daily pediatric hospitalizations. Both are the highest per capita rate in the nation, according to Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida. RELATED: Lee Health restricts ER visitations as COVID-19 surges in hospitals The hospitalizations and increasing cases have come as the new, more transmittable delta variant has spread throughout Florida, and residents have returned to pre-pandemic activities. “The recent rise is both striking and not-at-all surprising,” Salemi said in an email late Saturday. Every county in Florida – save for Glades – is in the red, considered at high risk of transmission. Federal health data released Saturday showed that Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic. The latest numbers were recorded on Friday and released on Saturday on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. The figures show how quickly the number of cases is rising in the Sunshine State: only a day earlier, Florida reported 17,093 new daily cases. Cumulatively, Florida has recorded at least 2,634,234 confirmed COVID cases statewide and 39,823 deaths as of Friday, according to the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the state Legislature, has limited local officials’ ability to impose restrictions meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks when classes resume next month. Florida’s Democratic agriculture commissioner, Nikki Fried, who is seeking to run against DeSantis for governor, on Sunday urged unvaccinated Floridians to get the shots. She said she was heartened by a recent uptick in vaccinations in the state. “We are already behind the curve and in a worse spot every time the numbers come out,” Fried said at a news conference in Tallahassee. “This surge is and will impact every single one of us.” Throughout Florida, from Jacksonville to Miami to Tampa, hospitals have become overwhelmed. Barry Burton, the Pinellas County administrator, told the Tampa Bay Times that some local hospitals are already having to divert ambulances to different locations because of capacity concerns. There has been a startling rise in the number of children with the virus at hospitals in Miami, many of them requiring intensive care. Memorial Health’s Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood had seven patients with COVID-19. At Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, there were 17 patients with COVID-19 on Friday, including six in the ICU and one who needed a ventilator, Dr. Marcos Mestre, vice president and chief medical officer, told the Miami Herald. About half of the patients were under 12, Mestre said, and the rest were older and eligible for the vaccine. But none of the patients with COVID-19 at Nicklaus Children’s on Friday were vaccinated. Most children who get COVID-19 do not need hospitalization, Mestre said. At the UF Health North hospital emergency room in Jacksonville, COVID-19 patients once again were being put in beds in hallways due to a surge in visits. For many hospital workers, up until a month ago, it looked like there was light at the end of the tunnel, as people got vaccinated and hospitalizations decreased. But then the summer surge, powered by the new delta variant, hit Florida in July. “That light did turn out to be a train in this case,” Marsha Tittle, a nursing manager at UF Health North, told The Florida Times Union. “We’re taking more patients than we normally would take. … My staff is wonderful. You walk out there, they’re going to have smiles on their faces and they’re doing a great job. But there’s a sense of defeat, like they’re just defeated.”