health and science

The Leon County Commission is trying to figure out how far it can go with its mask mandate. It comes after Florida State University fans were seen at the first football game without masks and sitting closely. Photos and videos circulating on social media also show mask-less students in apartment complexes tailgating in large numbers.

In the state's poorest zip code, 32304 in Tallahassee, low-income residents live side by side with college students. That's raising concerns since local coronavirus cases are rising among college-aged people, and low-income people tend to face more negative health impacts if they're infected.

Universities are starting to see students test positive for COVID-19 as in-person classes continue. Colleges are working to quarantine students to prevent the virus from spreading.

Students staying in one of Florida State University's quarantine dorms are raising concerns about the building's age and cleanliness.

Floridians who use vaping products won’t be restricted to two flavors after Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would’ve banned them. The goal of the legislation was to try and limit the product from getting into the hands of minors.

The Leon County School District has released a dashboard tallying COVID-19 infections, but the numbers only reflect daily cases and not a cumulative figure. The reason: the district doesn’t have the ability to distinguish between active infections and those who’ve recovered.

The New York Times lists Tallahassee as the 2nd metro area where coronavirus cases are rising the fastest, on a population-adjusted basis. Leon County has 7,943 COVID-19 infections.

The 24-hour total is the lowest it’s been since June 15, when the state had fewer than 80,000 total cases.

About half of Leon County public school students returned to campuses this week, while the rest chose remote learning. Now, the district has confirmed six cases of COVID-19.

Tavern owners throughout the state hurriedly are rehabbing behind-the-counter operations, adding triple sinks, carving out prep areas and signing up for food-handling training so they can get the go-ahead from state regulators to turn the lights back on.