Renzo Downey
The number of reported novel coronavirus cases increased 10% Thursday evening with an additional death reported since the morning.
Department of Health (DOH) officials are now reporting nine deaths and 432 coronavirus cases in Florida. That includes 39 non-residents.
The latest death was an 83-year-old Duval County man. A separate death occurred in Leon County after a non-Florida resident was transported to Tallahassee in critical condition before it was confirmed she had COVID-19.
Broward and Miami-Dade counties have seen the largest concentration of cases in the state. Miami-Dade has 101 reported cases while Broward has 96.
Gov. Ron DeSantis described the ongoing situations in those two counties as community spread during a Wednesday press conference.
Palm Beach County has the next-highest count with 29 confirmed cases.
As more sampling swabs arrive in the state, expect a broader number of test results and positive cases. Access to those swabs is currently throttling Florida and other states’ testing ability.
DeSantis said portions of an order of half a million pharyngeal swabs are supposedly on their way to the state. So far, the state has received 4,000 or 5,000 of those swabs, which each collect a sample for one person.
The state has distributed enough testing kits to run samples from 625,000 individuals.
With access to more samples, DOH and the Division of Emergency Management expect to increase testing capabilities, including at drive-thru sites and local facilities.
Public and private facilities have tested 3,254 individuals. Of those, 1,696 returned negative while 1,126 are still pending.
The state added 62 cases to reach 390 in Thursday morning’s report. That number increased another 42 in the evening count.
On Thursday, the Legislature passed the state budget, which includes $300 million in reserves in preparation for the economic effects of the virus. House Speaker José Oliva and Bill Galvano did not rule out a special session to address a prolonged economic downturn.
One comment
Christopher Kennard
March 19, 2020 at 10:08 pm
We called our local Medicare provider in Marion County, Florida, regarding our symptoms that seemed to track the symptoms that medical authorities around the world have described, including the few who seem to know anything of value in America.
Our guy asked us questions provided by the federal CDC for telephonic “coronavirus exam” that, in truth, seemed to be designed to tell folks they did not have the coronavirus, however we were to consider ourselves on house confinement and to “self isolate” ourselves . . . .
The symptoms that coronavirus create are fever that may fluctuate between a high fever and low to moderate fever. . . coughing . . . fatigue and lastly, great difficulty in breathing . . . an acute shortness of breath, which evidently is the prime “indicator” for having the coronavirus.
To our surprise, without the issue of acute shortness of breath or trouble breathing for those older people past the age of 65, like we are, YOU GOT NO PROBLEM!
You do not have coronavirus, according to the CDC telephone “examination” if you can’t breathe, and the results of these questions asked over the telephone, instead of relying upon a virus test or a physical exam or even being visually “seen” by a physician in Florida, were sufficient for the purpose of definitively determining whether you had coronavirus or not. Go figure!
We are two 65 year olds who now believe we both had the coronavirus, and one 95 year old who has not experienced any symptoms whatsoever, other than sleeping a lot during last couple of days. We were told that people aged 95 do not develop any symptoms, per se but rather immediately suffer dramatic health issues that often may lead to death. This was disconcerting to hear.
So, we asked, what if we do have this virus? Isn’t he in danger, since we all live in the same house?
We were told if he is sleeping a lot, call 911. Otherwise, we did not fit the CDC profile for contracting the coronavirus since we had not recently been on a cruise ship or travelled abroad or directly had contact with someone who had the coronavirus . . . despite having most of the symptoms . . . it could be the flu (which I have not had in nearly 40 years or more).
He concluded that even if we did not likely have the coronavirus, we should consider ourselves to be confined to the house under the order of “self isolation”.
We concluded that whoever we spoke to did not know as much as many of the commentators on TV who have discussed the coronavirus in the last day or two.
We also figure this telephone exam’s primary purpose was to discern those who were on the verge of death and get them out of sight, fast . . . and push the rest of folks off who were asking to have a virus test taken, due to circumstances like ours . . . both of us being ill for several days, exhibiting the bulk of the symptoms, and having a 95 year old living at home with us . . . who hasn’t gotten sick yet!
Nope! No test! Stay at home and best of luck, folks! And no, cannabis may cure cancer, but not the coronavirus, best to our knowledge!
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