Where did the COVID relief money go in Florida? Here's some of it
Antivirals, the return of the cruise industry, the rise of the labor movement, where the COVID money went and more in today's edition of the Florida Coronavirus Watch Newsletter. The newsletter comes out every Monday and Thursday or as urgent news dictates.
Here's what's happening
- Bethune-Cookman University used nearly $17 million in COVID relief funds to wipe out a lot of student debt. Like a number of historically Black colleges and universities across the country, the school took Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds authorized by Congress as part of the COVID-19 relief acts and cleared the balances of more than 5,000 students and recent graduates, freeing up other scholarship money to help even more students. (The Daytona Beach News-Journal has that story for its subscribers.) Last year Polk State College canceled $1.2 million in debts, and the University of West Florida used $11.6 million to help students with tuition, food, housing and more.
What else has COVID relief money gone for in Florida?
Lots of cities and counties used the programs and various grants to help local education and nonprofits, improve local infrastructure, provide rent relief and housing assistance, address homelessness and, of course, help with testing, vaccination and COVID education efforts. Most used some of it to fill in revenues lost during the pandemic and help sagging budgets. Billions of COVID relief funds have been used by Governor DeSantis for his own initiatives, a tax break package, and a gasoline tax break timed before the election even as he condemns the Biden administration.
Sarasota just allotted $25 million in federal funds toward affordable housing. Gainesville approved $7 million to dozens of local nonprofits, but shot down a plan to create a city-run broadband internet project. Polk County used some to offset the $11.6 million they paid during the pandemic in their public school health program, and their library bought five book-vending machines. St. Johns County put $7.38 million towards improving parks and other recreational spaces. Fellsmore and Port St. Lucie earmarked some for bringing internet access to small businesses and rural areas.
West Palm went for employee bonuses and vehicles. Palm Beach Gardens decided to use $2.1 million in COVID relief funds to help fund a golf course. In Jacksonville, a review suggested the process city officials used to distribute that money guaranteed influence rather than need.
Many restaurants across the state that applied for the federal Restaurant Relief Fund got help, with more than $28 million going to Space Coast restaurants, more than $17 million to over 100 Tallahassee restaurants, over $12.8 million to restaurants in Naples, and more than $8.6 million to 31 Daytona Beach-area restaurants, although $3.4 million of that is listed as going to a woman who says she never asked for it, hasn't seen it and never worked in the restaurant industry.
Speaking of scams... A Davenport couple was charged in a $5.8 million COVID relief scheme. A Naples man was charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal monetary transactions in his applications for nine relief loans totalling over $2.5 million. A Fort Myers roofer was found guilty of falsely acquiring $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds. And in Brandenton, a man was accused of spending $7.2 million in relief funds to buy a seven-bedroom mansion and three luxury vehicles.
- MorseLife to pay $1.75 million after giving COVID vaccines to rich donors ahead of patients. The bosses of MorseLife Health System, a nonprofit nursing home in West Palm Beach, had ordered the inoculation of hundreds of well-connected, well-off benefactors in late December 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
- Antiviral medicines for COVID are really effective. Niot enough people use them. Medications such as Paxlovid, a federally approved Pfizer-made antiviral pill, can fight severe infections caused by some omicron subvariants. About 2.1 million courses of the antiviral drug nationwide, including about 156,000 in Florida, remain unused as of Sunday, data from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department show.
- Is the cruise industry coming back? Yup. Things are slowly returning to normal after two years of COVID – or a "black swan event" as Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. CEO Frank Del Rio referred to the pandemic that shut down the industry for more than a year. USA TODAY has the story for its subscribers. Also, Norwegian is ending pre-cruise COVID testing wherever they're allowed to.
- 'This is our time’: How women are taking over the labor movement after COVID exposes more disparities. Over the course of the pandemic, the vast majority of essential workers were women. The vast majority of those who lost their jobs in the pandemic were women. The vast majority of those who faced unstable care situations for their children and their loved ones were women. And now the vast majority of those organizing their workplaces are women.
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Chris' note of the day: Are you still as virtual as you used to be? Are you still getting food delivered, or FaceTiming friends and family instead of visiting, or using telehealth services?
While we've been eating out more, carefully, I admit that I'm really enjoying the ease of well-done curbside service, especially for restaurants whose food we love but whose ambiance or long lines leave something to be desired. What pandemic changes are you still using?
Here's what else is happening with the coronavirus in Florida today.
— C. A. Bridges, cbridges@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Where did the COVID relief money go in Florida? Here's some of it
