Kerry Sheridan

Many local school districts have pushed back their start dates, as talks continue about how to reopen safely in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the latest plans from around the Tampa Bay region:

Many Florida schools are pressing ahead with reopening plans, and are in close consultation with area health departments. But are those public health officials putting any brakes on reopening, given the rising cases of coronavirus and COVID-19 deaths?

The number of cases of coronavirus is rising every day in Florida, including among children. As of July 10, more than 17,000 people under 18 in Florida had tested positive for COVID-19, according to state health data.

WUSF’s Kerry Sheridan spoke with Dr. Patricia Emmanuel, chair of pediatrics at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, about what this means for back-to-school plans.

Sarasota Memorial is the first hospital in Florida to begin a scientific trial using an experimental antibody treatment to attack coronavirus. Doctors hope the treatment, called REGN-COV2 and made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, will offer a new way to treat and possibly prevent COVID-19.

Governor Ron DeSantis on Saturday doubled down on his assertion that sending children back to school next month will be safe, reiterating that he would have no problem sending his own children to school if they were old enough.

Plasma from the survivors of COVID-19 can be a life-saving therapy for those who are hospitalized due to coronavirus, but Sarasota doctors say supplies are critically low and donations are urgently needed.

“We are in desperate need of plasma," said Kirk Voelker, a critical care pulmonologist at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

In June, Governor Ron DeSantis called for K-12 schools to reopen in full this fall, but left it up to individual school boards to figure out how to do that.

In the space of a month, the landscape has changed dramatically. Coronavirus cases in Florida are surging to new heights. But that hasn’t yet stopped local school districts from rolling out draft guidance for reopening, offering a blend of in-person instruction and virtual learning options.

Florida on Saturday reported yet another alarming surge in coronavirus cases, with a total of 9,585 new infections, marking a new daily record high for the state.

Twenty-four more people statewide died from COVID-19, bring the total death toll in Florida to 3,390 since the pandemic began, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The chief executive of Sarasota Memorial Hospital said Friday it’s “scary” how fast COVID-19 cases are rising and that younger patients are increasingly among those hospitalized.

After seeing the number of COVID patients at the hospital dip to eight in May, and even a brief period when the intensive care unit had no COVID patients for a few days, CEO David Verinder said the outlook has worsened.

Coronavirus brought schools to a halt in March, two months before the end of the year and dashing plans for prom and graduation.

Students at Seminole High School are documenting the effect of coronavirus on their lives and the absences they've endured, through poetry, pictures, and a special supplement to the yearbook.

The coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close about two months before the end of the school year, stripping away many of the common high school rituals such as proms and graduation ceremonies. 

Some high school students even lost family members, like Elijah Seay, 18, who is graduating from Lennard High School in Ruskin.

Every morning at Dover Elementary, near the strawberry fields of Plant City, upbeat music used to blare from speakers outside the front gate. I first met school resource officer Pedro Arroyo there one day in January. He greeted the children as they came in. Many stopped to give him a handshake, a fist bump, or a hug.