Friday, April 24th, 2020

We’re all in this together

Many decisions will be made on April 30th concerning the

next path chosen to start re-opening the economy, beaches,
boat ramps, vacation rentals, and “stay at home”. ALL is
being done to protect YOUR health and the most vulnerable
in our communities. Franklin County has been extremely
busy obtaining and setting up medical resources that
hopefully will not be needed, but were not in place six
weeks ago.

Kudos to the entire community for all the hard work and
sacrifices made to help keep Franklin County as safe as
possible, feeding and providing food not only to those in
need, but for students, local police and fire departments,
first responders, and medical personnel. Our local
restaurants and other organizations have really stepped up!
And thank you to all those individuals and organizations for
making and donating face masks! Yes, we all miss going to
our beaches too and look forward to seeing everyone out
and about again.
Many of Carrabelle Area Restaurants are still ready to
serve you! Go to our website for services, days open, and
menus. Public beaches & boat ramps in Franklin County
are closed. Stay at Home order in place.
Franklin County Board of County Commissioners Special
Meeting: April 30 @ 9:00 am
The Franklin County Board of County Commissioners will
conduct a special meeting on April 30, 2020 at 9:00 am. in
the Commission Meeting Room at 34 Forbes Street,
Apalachicola, FL.
Due to Federal and State COVID-19 guidelines and
restrictions, the general public will not be allowed in the
Commission Meeting Room but may participate via
conference call. To listen to the meeting and/or comment
during the “Public Comments” section of the agenda, call 1-
888-585-9008 and when prompted enter 364022831#.
PanCare Health began conducting COVID-19 testing in
Eastpoint on Wednesday, April 15th at 346 Highway 98 across
from the Post Office
To be screened for testing, you first have to contact PanCare's COVID-19
response line team at (850) 215-4181.
The Response line is available Monday through Friday from 9 am-4 pm.
To qualify for testing, you must exhibit symptoms like a fever of 100.4
degrees or above, cough, and shortness of breath. Once you call the
PanCare COVID-19 response line at (850) 215-4181 there will be a
phone screening.
Starting on Thursday, April 24th, Pancare will be testing healthcare
facility workers, residents in long-term care facilities, persons 65 years
of age and older, persons with underlying conditions and first
responders even if they do not show any COVID-19 symptoms. PanCare
will continue to offer COVID-19 testing to all persons with symptoms
(cough, fever ≥100.4, or shortness of breath) at all testing sites. All
testing will be provided at no cost to the person being tested. If a person
has insurance, we will bill the insurance for testing and write-off any
portion not covered.
If you qualify for testing, you will be assigned a unique ID number and
given an appointment date and time.
You can get more information about COVID-19 testing on-line
at pancarefl.org.

It's important to support each other. Please be patient,
be kind, and if appropriate, TIP! All good ways to help
our local communities!
Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce is posting daily
Covid-19 updates. Click here to go to their
website: http://www.apalachicolabay.org/covid-19/
105 St. James Ave. (Hwy 98) www.carrabelle.org chamber@nettally.com
Weems Memorial hospital received a van-load of medical supplies last week from
the Gulf Coast State College of Health Sciences and Public Safety Departments.
The donations, which were also made to other local hospitals in Gulf and Bay
counties, were in response to an increasing demand for critical medical supplies
resulting from the COVID-19 virus pandemic. The supplies were not being used
by the school since Gulf Coast made the transition to remote instruction on March
30th. The donated supplies include gloves, masks, caps, gowns, disinfectant wipes
and safety glasses from the labs of GCSC Health Sciences and Public Safety.
Gulf Coast State College said with medical supplies in such high demand, they will
be more useful in the hands of the men and women on the front lines who are
working to protect us in this time of need.
Weems Interim CEO David Walker said “As a Critical Access Hospital with limited
resources, we appreciate the donations very much.”
Weems is still accepting donations. They hope to work with local businesses and
volunteers who could provide the hospital with any amount of N95, KN95,
surgical and homemade masks. Anyone interested in sewing or donating masks
should contact Courtney Alford at (850) 653-8853 ext. 108.
From Oyster Radio Facebook post
FOOD DONATIONS
During these uncertain times it is important to remember all the pets living in
homes that are and will continue to be facing financial difficulties. Our concern is
that people facing this may not be able to afford to feed their pets and choose to
owner surrender them thus overwhelming the shelter.
In order to help prevent this, we put out a plea to the community to donate food
for distribution to people in need. The response was swift and generous. We
have received over a thousand pounds of dog and cat food and have been
distributing it to a very grateful public.
Our food drive continues and though we have plenty of cat food, our dog food
stores have quickly diminished.
If you would like to donate food, you may order on-line and have it sent to: 244
State Rd 65, Eastpoint Florida 32328 or drop it by the shelter at your
convenience Thanks in advance!
The Franklin County School food service is now providing “Ready to heat”
entree items for local children
The food service has been providing grab and go packed meals to all children of
Franklin County since March the 24 and are now averaging over 2300 meals a day
– 7 days a week.
Starting this week students will begin to see ‘Ready to Heat’ entrée items for
breakfast and lunch. These are simple items that will be an addition to packed
meals. Each family will receive a list of the items as well as easy heating
instructions for a warm meal. If you have any food related questions or would
like to request additional information, please contact the School Food and
Nutrition office at 850-670-2832.
Thank you, Oyster Radio, for sharing this info!