BOCA RATON, FL - While hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Florida continue to decline, those who are in need of hospital help are apparently needing more critical care than before.
The FHA made the announcement as the CDC confirmed that 50,811 have now died from COVID-19 in Florida as Governor Ron DeSantis continues to fight mask mandates and other COVID restrictions.
For months, the FHA has reported a near steady ventilator statistic - 18 percent of all patients hospitalized for COVID needed a ventilator.
As fewer Floridians now need to be hospitalized, those who do are increasingly in need of truly lifesaving measures.
As of Thursday, 20.3 of all hospitalized COVID-19 patients need a ventilator.
"Our state has seen a nearly one-third reduction in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the last two weeks with today marking the first time since July 30 that COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida have stood below 10,000," said Mary C. Mayhew, President and CEO, Florida Hospital Association.

BOCA RATON, FL - If they are to be believed, parents contacting BocaNewsNow.com suggest that the largest shift ever in parent and student friendships may unfold over the next several days in the Palm Beach County School District.
Scores of parents emailing and contacting BocaNewsNow.com are simultaneously praising the new mask mandate ordered by interim superintendent Michael Burke, while saying they will have their kids create lists of students in their classrooms who are not wearing masks.
"You better believe that we will instruct our daughter's teacher that she must be seated away from any child whose parents said he or she doesn't have to wear a mask," wrote a mom of a 3rd grader in a Boca Raton elementary school.
The mandate, ordered Saturday afternoon, provides parents and guardians with the opportunity to "Opt out" of the mask mandate for their children.
While parents can opt their children out of mask use, teachers, staffers and all visitors to Palm Beach County School District buildings have no choice.
Justin Katz, president of the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association - the closest thing teachers have in Palm Beach County to a union - told BocaNewsNow.com Saturday night that he will not have an official statement until he discusses the masking mandate with school administration on Monday.

BOCA RATON, FL - A lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court alleges "False imprisonment" and "Invasion of privacy" after the Palmetto Place Condominium Association allegedly deactivated the key fobs of two homeowners who publicly acknowledged they were COVID-19 positive.
The condo association - allegedly without authority to do so - used the key fob deactivation as a way to force the husband and wife to stay in their condo for two weeks, then told the couple that the HOA would call the police to "Request that you be removed from the building and or arrested" if they attempted to exit the high-end building.
The filing follows a lawsuit filed over the summer by the Palmetto Place Condominium Association - and its management company "First Service Residential" - seeking to order the Iscowitz's to stay in their unit.
This is the second high-profile COVID-19 issue involving Palmetto Place and "First Service Residential." We reported on November 25th that FirstService and the Palmetto Place Condo Association attempted to fine another unit owner $5,100 for a mask violation.
Read the complete lawsuit against Palmetto Place, below.
The Palmetto Place Condominium Owners Association has not yet filed a response to the suit.

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