PORT ORANGE
Observer YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
TINY HOMES PAGE 4 FREE
VOLUME 4, NO. 7
• MARCH 2021
Back to normal operations As COVID-19 census continues to drop, AdventHealth resumes elective procedures. PAGE 2
E-bikes will be allowed on beaches JARLEENE ALMENAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Volusia County is pedaling its way to a current trend. At its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 16, the Volusia County Council unanimously gave staff the OK to draft an ordinance that will allow for the use of electric bikes and other related motorized vehicles on the beach. The e-bikes, which have previously been prohibited from being used on the beach, will be allowed to operate in the urban and transitional beach management areas. These are the sections of the beach where beach driving is allowed, though these e-bikes will not be limited to the driving lanes. This decision came before the council after two state statutes instated in 2019 and 2020 provided that e-bike, miniature motorcycle, motorized scooter and micromobility device drivers be given the same rights as bicycle riders. Under the current code, bicycles are allowed to operate in all sections of the beach. However, that is a provision e-bikes will not be getting at the moment, since staff documents show that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service won’t permit e-bikes and other motorized vehicles to operate in non-driving sections of the beach.
UPS AND DOWNS
Amber DiQuattro
Photo by Ka’Deem Wynn
COVID-19 and race
Local Postal Customer
PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BCH FL PERMIT #447
Spruce Creek beats FPC, then falls to Bartram Trail in regionals. PAGE 6
With disparities and inequities in health care, AdventHealth states minority communities are harder hit by COVID-19.
JARLEENE ALMENAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Are black and Latino communities at a higher risk of complications and deaths caused by COVID-19? AdventHealth says yes. “Unfortunately, the data bears that out prior to COVID, but COVID has really been an exemplar for the disparities and inequities in health care that we’ve seen,” said Dr. Alric Simmonds, AdventHealth’s chief equity officer during the hospital system’s morning briefing on Feb. 11. Hospitalizations across the board — which totaled 540 at the time of the briefing — are
decreasing in Central Florida, a good sign as the public continues to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, but AdventHealth reports minority communities, particularly black and Latino, are impacted at a greater rate. Simmonds, who is also a surgeon and chief medical officer at AdventHealth Celebration, explained three risk factors contributing to the disparity: the need for public transportation, inability to work from home, and housing, as many of minority families live in multigenerational households where if one person gets sick, the disease spreads. In an effort to address the issue, AdventHealth aims to increase its education efforts regarding the vaccine, since a major challenge in the black and Latino population is mistrust of the health care
Courtesy of Life at AdventHealth Central Florida
Dr. Alric Simmonds, AdventHealth’s chief equity officer, speaks during the hospital system’s morning briefing on Thursday, Feb. 11.
system. Simmonds said they are looking for ways to partner with churches, sororities and fraternities.