Number of COVID-19 patients in Florida hospitals increases 24 percent

The number of Florida hospital inpatients with COVID-19 jumped 24 percent during the past week, according to data posted Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It comes after a nearly 20 percent increase the previous week. While Florida in recent weeks has seen increases in overall numbers of COVID-19 cases, the numbers remain far lower than early in the year, when the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus swept across the state. [Source: WLRN]

Florida Department of Health, CDC investigating a presumptive case of monkeypox

The Florida Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating a presumptive case of monkeypox in Broward County. The DOH-Broward confirmed that the person's case is related to international travel and that they're investigating possible exposures. The person remains isolated. [Source: WPBF]

DeSantis signs bill on student mental health and approves $100 million for cancer research

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed several bills into law last week, including a measure that will require school districts to inform parents of additional mental-health resources if students are receiving services. DeSantis also announced that he will approve $100 million in the upcoming year’s state budget for cancer research, $37 million more than in the current year. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Law professor: Florida abortion law will likely face a lawsuit citing right to privacy

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe V. Wade, federal protection for the right to an abortion will end and it will be up to individual states to determine whether the procedure is lawful. In Florida, some legal scholars say a probable challenge to the state's new 15-week abortion ban will almost certainly cite the state constitution's right to privacy amendment. [Source: WUSF]

Florida neurological injury fund fights ruling of appeals court panel

A Florida program that pays for care of children who suffer neurological injuries at birth is asking a full federal appeals court to take up a lawsuit about whether the program has inappropriately shifted costs to Medicaid. Attorneys for the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association filed a motion this past week asking the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to consider whether the lawsuit should have been dismissed. [Source: News Service of Florida]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› A simulated mass shooting scenario puts Tallahassee Memorial's trauma center to the test [WFSU]
Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's trauma center was the scene of a realistic mass shooting response exercise on Friday. Scores of badly "wounded" patients tried to push the facility and its staff to the limit. As the first of many ambulances arrived, trauma team members raced to get the imaginary shooting victim into the nearest triage room.

› Visitation rules at Jackson Health System tighten again as COVID-19 cases rise [Miami Herald]
Jackson Health System has once again changed visitation policy at its hospitals and other facilities as Miami-Dade County sees an uptick in COVID-19 cases. In March, the county’s public hospital network lightened its rules as COVID cases continued to drop since the beginning of the year after the omicron surge. However, in April cases began to trend upward again, according to Miami Herald calculations of data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

› Flu season’s almost over, but Tampa Bay kids keep getting sick [Tampa Bay Times]
Tampa Bay’s children hospitals are reporting an increase in the number of children battling the flu as Florida is seeing an unusual rise in cases late in the flu season. Polk County is leading the state with what’s classified as “elevated” levels of the flu, according to state data. Pinellas’ is experiencing a “moderate” outbreak, which still gives it the second-highest level of transmission in the state.

› FIU training program for health care workers is yielding results [FIU News]
Diamond Lind knows what it’s like to care for someone in need. She was her grandmother’s primary caretaker before she passed away. A certified nursing assistant, her grandmother taught her all the basics of caretaking. It was then that Lind realized her dream career. In 2016, she enrolled in Miami Dade College to earn her associate's degree, and in 2019, she applied to FIU’s Urban Potential Laboratories (UP Labs).