LAKELAND Nurses and other front-line workers at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center got their first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday morning as numbers of local infections remained high.
Hospital employees at the highest risk of exposure from patients with COVID-19 received injections of the vaccine developed by Moderna. They will need booster shots in about four weeks for the vaccine to be fully effective.
Lakeland Regional Health is not requiring workers to be inoculated against the viral illness, but executives are urging employees to receive the vaccinations.
“We highly encourage our team members to consider receiving this promising vaccine,” Dr. Timothy J. Regan, the hospital’s president and chief medical officer of Lakeland Regional Health, said in a news release. “As an emergency medicine physician, I just received my vaccination and have full confidence in the science behind these vaccines. This is an important next step in keeping our team, patients, the
LAKELAND The shocks of a painful year seemed to be easing for the Hancock family in October when Carter Hancock left a hospital burn unit and returned to his Lakeland home.
In February, the grandfather Carter loved and admired had died after a fall. Five months later, Carter, 20, suffered severe burns over much of his body during a baffling accident at the family s home.
Doctors initially told his parents, Marcus and Wendy Hancock, that Carter might not survive. If he did, they said, he would probably remain in the hospital beyond the end of the year.
But Carter defied those predictions, recovering quickly enough to come home after 71 days.
A Highland City man was arrested on charges of DUI manslaughter for his role in the deaths of two Lakeland men during a crash in Lakeland on Nov. 20.
Polk County Sheriff s Office deputies arrested Justin Mathis, 31, of Highland City, on Tuesday. Mathis was the driver in the fatal crash that killed Christopher Lofton, 34, and David Weldon, 38.
About 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 20, Mathis was driving a 2018 Chevy Silverado pickup south on U.S. 98 South near County Road 540-A when he collided with a semi-truck driven by Daniel Mariscal, 59, of Tampa. The passenger side of the Silverado became wedged underneath the left rear of the semi s 53-foot box trailer.
LAKELAND Polk County and Florida saw nearly record-breaking numbers of new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, as health care officials await word of possible federal approval of a second vaccine.
There were 466 new COVID-19 cases reported in Polk on Thursday, according to the Florida Department of Health s daily report. Of these, 432 were state residents and 34 were non-state residents, possibly either tourists or snowbirds. This is the county s second-highest day for new infections, following the 505 cases reported July 18. It brings the county s total to 32,432.
Florida reported 13,148 new cases Thursday, based on the state agency s report. This is the state s third highest day for new infections following July 11 and July 15, when Florida reported more than 15,000 cases.
1 teen in critical condition, 3 injured after bonfire explosion in Polk County
Gasoline caused explosion, investigators say
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POLK CITY, Fla. – Four teens were injured Thursday after the Polk County Sheriff’s Office says gasoline was poured on a bonfire causing an explosion.
According to a news release, the Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the incident that happened Thursday around 7:40 p.m. in Polk City.
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Investigators said the group of friends were sitting around a bonfire at a home on Hammock Loop and when the flames started to dwindle one of the teens poured gasoline to build the fire back up. The flames ignited the stream of gas and gasoline vapors and the gas can exploded, according to the Sheriff’s Office.