Suzette Porter
Pinellas County had 77 confirmed cases of coronavirus, as of noon Friday, March 27 — that’s 12 more than the number reported by the Florida Department of Health Thursday night.
According to DOH as of March 27, seventy of the cases in Pinellas are in Florida residents and seven are non-residents. Twenty-five are or have been hospitalized. Forty-nine cases are in men and 28 are in women. Ages range from 21-83. The average age is 51.
DOH reported Thursday night that 41 of the county’s cases are travel-related and 21 are not travel-related. Three were unknown. That information was not included in Friday’s report.
DOH revised information provided on the city of residence for 58 of the cases in Pinellas on Thursday night. Fourteen are Clearwater residents, 12 are from St. Petersburg, eight from Largo, six from Seminole, five from Tarpon Springs, two each from Gulfport, Dunedin, Palm Harbor and Clearwater Beach, and one each from Madeira Beach, Pinellas Park, Indian Rocks Beach, South Pasadena and Belleair.
The first two cases in Pinellas were confirmed on March 11. The county’s first death attributed to COVID-19 was reported March 24. A 67-year-old man in Pinellas died March 23. The case was not travel-related and DOH says the man did not have contact with a confirmed case.
The DOH reports that 1,230 had been tested in Pinellas as of Thursday night. Sixty-five were positive and 1,111 were negative. Results were pending for 54. Of those that have been tested, 1,209 are Florida residents and 21 are non-residents. More women have been tested than men, 692 to 525.
No new testing information was available on Friday.
Pinellas County is under a local state of emergency and a “safer at home” order effective until at least April 3. Many businesses are closed and residents should only go out for essential needs. All places of “public assembly” are closed. Public beaches remain closed until at least April 6.
State numbers continue to rise
The number of confirmed cases in Florida residents was up to 2,765 at noon Friday compared to 2,359 reported Thursday night. Another 135 cases were reported in non-residents, bringing the state’s total to 2,900, up from 2,484 reported at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The number of deaths in Florida increased to 35, which is five more than on Thursday night. DOH reports that 456 are hospitalized statewide.
DOH reported that 32,468 had been tested statewide and results were pending for 1,774, as of Thursday night. No information was provided on the number being monitored as of Friday, but 1,698 were being monitored as of 7 p.m. Thursday.
The state’s DOH COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard shows 86,012 cases of coronavirus in the U.S. and 1,301 deaths compared to 83,507 cases and 1,201 deaths on Thursday night. The number of global cases was up to 558,502 cases and 25,261 deaths compared to 529,093 cases and 23,956 deaths reported last night.
