Within six days, COVID-19 surfaced in Florida, claimed the first two lives on the East Coast of the U.S., and led to the cancellation of major events, including one associated with the 2020 presidential race.
Health officials announced Friday night that two Floridians died from the virus, one in Santa Rosa County and the other in Lee County. Both individuals were in their 70s and had recently traveled overseas. The countries they visited and the amount of contact they might have had with others in their communities remain unknown.
Cases of those infected with COVID-19 now extend from Florida's Panhandle to South Florida, with two new positive tests in Broward County. There are three confirmed cases in the Tampa Bay area, plus a 66-year-old woman in Volusia County, a 61-year-old woman in Okaloosa County, and a person in Manatee County and Charlotte County have also tested "presumptive positive."
In response, Governor DeSantis ordered the Florida Department of Emergency Management to activate to Level 2, which will help provide more support to state and local health departments. Also, at the governor's request, House and Senate leaders have agreed to allocate $25 million to help the state respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Meredith Beatrice, a spokeswoman for Governor DeSantis, said in an email that the funds could be used for “laboratory supplies and personal protective equipment; additional statewide staff to expand capacity to investigate and monitor individuals with COVID-19 and those at risk for contracting the virus; and enhanced communication to the general public, healthcare providers and visitors to our state.”
The response from state lawmakers comes at a time when fears are beginning to grow about the potential economic impact of the outbreak. Following the cancellation of two music festivals in South Florida due to coronavirus concerns, major conferences, conventions, and forums have now also been canceled.
The AFL-CIO presidential forum, which Senator Bernie Sanders and former-Vice President Joe Biden were both set to participate in, was canceled Saturday, just days before it was due to begin. The HIMSS Global Health Conference, which President Trump was planning to attend in Orlando, was canceled for the first time in 58 years.
Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers from the Florida Department of Health:
Positive Cases of COVID-19
11 – Florida Residents
5 – Florida Cases Repatriated
1 – Non-Florida resident
Deaths
2 – Florida Residents
Number of Negative Test Results
107
Number of Pending Testing Results
87
Number of People Under Public Health Monitoring
278 – currently being monitored
1018 – people monitored to date
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