🌱 Orlando NYE Guide + Orlando Urgent Care Clinics Swamped + New COVID Testing Site

Happy Friday, people of Orlando and Happy New Year's Eve! Let's get you all caught up on what's happening locally to start the last day of 2021 off on an informed note.

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny and very warm. High: 84 Low: 66.

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Here are the top five stories today in Orlando:

1. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings slammed Governor Ron DeSantis this week for not doing more to address the new surge of COVID-19. Demings cited shortages of COVID-19 tests, too few state-supported testing sites, and a lack of leadership at the state level. (Florida Politics)

2. Orange County opened its third COVID-19 testing site on Thursday at the South Orange Youth Sports Complex. Orange County originally planned to add walk-ups to all three testing sites, but decided not to due to high demand and will only allow drive-thru. Residents are facing very long waits for testing at this time with some people waiting hours. (Click Orlando)

3. Orlando urgent care facilities are swamped with patients amid a COVID-19 surge and are limiting walk-ins in response. Clinics are advising those in need to book an appointment online or by phone and to remember to be patient. Another issue making matters complicated is staffing issues. (WESH)

4. A cleaning service worker was attacked by a tiger at Naples Zoo in southwest Florida on Wednesday, authorities and zoo officials confirmed. Malayan tiger Eko was killed during the incident. Officials say the worker was either petting or feeding the animal when the tiger grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him into the enclosure. (WFTV)

5. Central Florida resident Gerry Hazuka has donated 100-gallons of blood to OneBlood center. Hazuka collects stickers of how much blood he has donated and encourages others to go and see if they are eligible to donate blood and make a difference in the lives of others. (WMFE)

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Today in Orlando:

• Kick In the New Year Party At Your Martial Arts School. (12:00 PM)
• Le Cirque: New Year’s Eve At Grand Bohemian Orlando. (7:00 PM)
• Rollins College Men's Basketball At Florida Southern College. (7:30 PM)
• Thornton Park New Year's Eve Street Party 2022. (8:30 PM)
• NYE With DJ Pauly D Hosted By Camille Kostek At WTR Grill. (9:00 PM)

From my notebook:

• Orlando Date Night Guide has a list of over 50 ideas for New Year's Eve in Orlando to ring in 2022. On the list are Enzian Theater, The Courtesy, Bulla Gastrobar, and more. (Orlando Date Night Guide)
• Florida added 58,013 new COVID-19 cases on December 29th, breaking a record yet again. (WFLA)
• The National Association of Health Services Executives honored Orlando Health team members, Quibulah Graham, senior director of diversity & minority business development, and Tiffany Pratt, assistant vice president of human resources, as NAHSE-FL 2021 HerStory Women in Leadership Awardees. (Facebook)
• Rollins College has updated its COVID-19 protocols prior to the spring semester to include testing, a mask policy, protocols for quarantines and isolation. (Rollins College)
• SunRail will be running regular service today, December 31st. (Twitter)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• A Killer Beaz New Year’s Eve- 2 Dinner & Show seatings (December 31)
• Ring In the New Year With 15 Percent Off Beautiful Blooms From FTD! (December 31)
• FREE WEBINAR | “Rome: The Eternal City” Presented by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero (January 4)
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Thanks for following along and staying informed! See you all tomorrow morning for your next update.

— Carlos Hernandez

About me: Hello my name is Carlos Hernandez and I am a food writer with over 10 years of experience in the industry. I write the food blog Carlos Eats (http://www.carloseats.com) and also contribute to several newspapers and magazines with food-related blogs and articles.