Florida to still provide meals to children as schools close

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - On Saturday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted waivers to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), providing flexibility to allow schools, child care institutions, and community organizations to feed children during the current COVID-19 school closures. Florida's 4,500 public schools will be closed through at least March 30.

The federal waivers allow FDACS to provide authority to local school districts on alternative methods of delivering nutritious meals, such as "grab and go" meals, meals available in school pick-up circles, multiple meals (such as breakfast and lunch) picked up at one time, and other methods in non-cafeteria settings, to promote CDC-recommended social distancing. FDACS will also leverage its Summer BreakSpot and Seamless Summer Option non-profit and community partners to ensure Florida’s students are fed.

The state's 67 countywide school districts will each decide whether to participate in the program. Because of recommendations that people not congregate in large groups, some districts might choose to let children pick up their meals at school and take them home or may even drop meals off near their homes using buses. Districts that can give students up to a week's worth of food at once to minimize contact.

"For millions of Florida’s children, school meals are the only meals they can count on. We’re working closely with school districts to ensure that students have access to healthy, nutritious meals while schools are closed due to COVID-19," said Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. "We thank the USDA for helping us provide schools with flexible options to make school meals available. We will leverage innovative solutions, relationships, and the dedication of Florida’s schools and non-profits to ensure no child goes hungry during this pandemic."

In the 2018-19 school year, Florida’s schools served 286,734,316 school lunches, of which 245,782,422 were free or reduced lunches. These schools served 2,908,335 Florida students, of which 2,089,852 were students receiving free or reduced lunches. FDACS is the state agency that funds Florida’s school lunch program, through $1.3 billion in federal funding.

While Commissioner Fried and FDACS are encouraging all school districts to provide meals throughout the closure, the decision to serve meals during school closures rests with each school district. School districts may begin providing alternative meals as soon as Monday, March 16. Parents and families should contact their local school district to determine if school meals will be served during this closure, and if so, how meals will be available.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. The virus has infected more than 145,000 people worldwide. More than 5,400 have died.

About a third of Florida's 64 known cases of the new coronavirus have been in Broward County, according to the state health department, while neighboring Miami-Dade County has seen eight cases including Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. He tested positive after being in the same room with the Brazilian president's press secretary, who test positive after also being in close proximity to President Donald Trump at the president's Mar-a-Lago estate. Suarez has shown no symptoms so far. Two people have died in Florida. A third Florida resident passed away in California.

There have been about 500 negative test results statewide and more than 350 people are being monitored.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has banned all nursing home visits in Broward, is asking other homes to screen visitors and is activating the National Guard in certain parts of the state. The state is also purchasing 625,000 testing kits. Most in-person court proceedings have been suspended for two weeks, although judges can choose to conduct some by video or phone where legally allowed.

Publix, the state's largest grocery store chain, announced that it would close its stores daily at 8 p.m. — three hours early for most. The company said that would give its employees more time to fully clean stores and restock shelves.

Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have all announced they will be closed starting Monday. Disney said it will keep its hotels and its Disney Springs shopping area open, however. All major cruise ship lines have also suspended operations.

If you feel sick

The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.

LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website

CORONAVIRUS IN FLORIDA: What you need to know

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