Suzette Porter
The Florida Department of Health reported 530 cases of COVID-19 in Pinellas County Thursday night — 10 more than the number reported this morning and 17 more than what DOH reported Wednesday night.
No new deaths were reported. The death count remains at 14.
Statewide, the number of cases increased to 23,340 with 668 deaths. Cases in the United States totaled 658,263 with 32,186 deaths. Globally, more than 2.1 million cases have been reported with 142,735 deaths.
Coronavirus cases in Pinellas include 489 Florida residents and 41 non-residents. Just over half were men, 51%, and 49% were women. Ages range from 1-98. The median age was 53.
DOH included race information for the first time Wednesday night. According to the report on Thursday night, 78% of those testing positive for COVID-19 in Pinellas were white, 13% were black, 6% were other and 3% were unknown. According to the new report on ethnicity, 86% were non-Hispanic, 10% were Hispanic and 4% were unknown.
DOH reports that 108 have been hospitalized in Pinellas, which includes residents and non-residents. Local hospitals reported nearly 44% available bed capacity on Thursday night with 37% capacity for adult ICU beds.
“Hospitalizations is a count of all laboratory confirmed cases in which an inpatient hospitalization occurred at any time during the course of illness,” DOH said. “These people may no longer be hospitalized. This number does not represent the number of COVID-19 positive persons currently hospitalized. We do not have a figure for that information at this time.”
As of Thursday night, DOH reported that 9,651 people had been tested in Pinellas with 9,042 testing negative. Nine tests were inconclusive and results were pending for 68. DOH said 5.5% of test results were coming back as positive.
Most cases in St. Petersburg and Clearwater
DOH provided updated and revised information on the city of residence for 479 of the cases in Pinellas on Thursday morning. St. Petersburg and Clearwater have the most cases. St. Petersburg is on top with 141 cases, 100 are Clearwater residents, 64 from Largo, 45 from Seminole, 31 from Palm Harbor, 24 from Tarpon Springs, 18 from Dunedin, 12 from Pinellas Park, eight from Clearwater Beach, seven from Safety Harbor, six from Oldsmar, four from Indian Rocks Beach, three each from Belleair and Gulfport, two each from Bay Pines, Belleair Bluffs, Kenneth City and Madeira Beach, and one each from Belleair Beach, North Redington Beach, Crystal Beach, Treasure Island and South Pasadena.
Sixty cases were reported in long-term care facilities with one death. Several cases were reportedly from Freedom Square Seminole Nursing Pavilion.
COVID-19 deaths in Pinellas
The county’s death toll stands at 14. DOH reported on April 14 that an 80-year-old man who had traveled to New York had died due to coronavirus.
Five deaths were reported from April 7-11. DOH reported the death of a 74-year-old man on April 11, which was not travel-related. Two deaths were reported on April 10, a 78-year-old woman who had traveled to Washington, D.C. and in Florida, and a 75-year-old man who had traveled to New York.
DOH reported the death of a 56-year-old woman on April 8 and a 76-year-old woman on April 7. Neither was travel-related.
The county’s first death attributed to coronavirus reported on March 23 was a 52-year-old male. He had traveled to Bulgaria, Germany and Utah. The county’s second travel-related death was an 82-year-old man who had traveled to Ohio and in Florida.
The six other deaths were not travel-related and include two women: a 40-year-old, the youngest victim so far, and an 83-year-old. The rest were men, ages 85, 67, 64 and 58.
Local state of emergency extended
Pinellas County extended its local state of emergency and “safer-at-home” order for another seven days, effective April 17-24. Beaches and pools will remain closed. All nonessential businesses will remain closed. More information is available here.
The county Emergency Operations Center is working at a Level 1 virtual activation. Visit the county website for the latest updates.
State cases number more than 23,000
The number of confirmed cases in Florida residents was up to 22,674 on Thursday night. Another 666 cases were reported in non-residents, bringing the state’s total to 23,340 — 443 more than the number reported this morning and 821 more than what DOH reported Wednesday night.
The number of deaths in Florida increased to 668, which is 35 more than the number reported this morning. DOH reports that 3,458 have been hospitalized statewide.
DOH reported that 225,736 had been tested statewide with 200,801 testing negative. DOH says 10.4 percent of tests results have been positive.
Of the 22,897 statewide cases reported Wednesday morning, 1,521 were travel-related, 5,596 had contact with a confirmed case, 1,211 had travel and contact with a confirmed case and 13,907 were under investigation.
Florida is under a stay-at-home order that remains in effect until April 30.
National cases top 650,000
According to information from Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, posted at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, cases of coronavirus in the United States were up to 658,263 with 32,186 deaths compared 640,291 with 31,002 deaths reported at 11:30 a.m. The number of global cases increased to 2,138,763 with 142,735 deaths compared to 2,090,110 with 139,419 deaths last night.
For more information on the coronavirus, visit www.floridahealth.gov/index.html. If you think you might need to be tested, contact your health provider, or call the state DOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-866-779-6121 or the Pinellas County DOH’s hotline at 727-824-6900. Both numbers are open 24/7.
