Florida requesting hundreds of ventilators from federal government: report

Florida is requesting hundreds of ventilators from the federal government after a surge in COVID-19 across the state, according to a Department of Health and Human Services planning document obtained by ABC News affiliate Local 10.

The request was made Friday for 300 ventilators “to replace expended state stores,” the document said.

It was not clear how the ventilators would be allocated, but they were expected to arrive in the state Monday, according to the outlet.

The request comes as the delta variant spreads mostly among unvaccinated individuals and Florida sees more coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

The Florida Department of Health tweeted Monday night that the numbers the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was reporting were incorrect that and the state had more than 15,000 cases as of Sunday. 

The CDC said the state had more than 28,000 new cases.

The daily case counts for Florida currently posted on the CDC COVID Tracker are incorrect. The current listing states 28,317.

The accurate data are as follows:

Friday, August 6: 21,500
Saturday August 7: 19,567
Sunday, August 8: 15,319

The 3 day average: 18,795

— Florida Dept. Health (@HealthyFla) August 10, 2021

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is in a battle with school districts after he banned them from implementing mask mandates this upcoming school year. 

So far, two Florida school districts are defying the order despite the governor’s office saying it could withhold salaries from school board members and superintendents who implement mask mandates.

Florida was one of the first states to loosen coronavirus restrictions during the pandemic and joins a host of states that are seeing cases rise due to the delta variant. 

The Hill has reached out to the governor’s office and the Florida Department of Health for comment.