Seven residents have been diagnosed with the virus, according to state health officials.
7 residents diagnosed, but 5 travelers remain isolated out of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Seven Florida residents have been diagnosed with coronavirus, state health officials said Thursday, but five of them are outside the state and won’t be able to return home until they’ve been cleared of the disease that has already killed more than 3,200 worldwide.
In addition, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday an elderly Santa Rosa County man has tested “presumptive positive” for coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control has yet to confirm it but it adds to Florida’s growing set of infections as health officials attempt to contain the spread. DeSantis said the patient was “not in shape” to answer a lot of questions but an investigation into where he traveled and his contacts is ongoing. The patient, though, met a lot of the criteria for high-risk populations.
“That is somebody who did have underlying conditions, I think he’s over the age of 70, and he had been doing international travel,” DeSantis said.
According to the Florida Department of Health website, one other person in Florida who is an out-of-state resident has tested positive. That person traveled with a Hillsborough County resident who was one of the two Florida residents health officials announced had the disease.
There are 38 test results that are pending and there have been 24 negative results so far.
On a conference call with state lawmakers Thursday morning, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez and Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, head of the health department, said the state’s three labs currently have enough capacity to conduct tests and urged anyone who believes they have symptoms of the coronavirus to call their county health department before calling a doctor.
“We want to know who you are and don’t want people showing up at the ER,” and possibly infecting others, Nunez said.
Rivkees and Nunez stressed that people can get tested for coronavirus if they are at a high risk of having the disease — anyone who traveled to a region with a large outbreak (China, South Korea, Italy, Iran); anyone in contact with an infected person and any patient in a hospital with fever, coughing and other symptoms with no other diagnosis.
But they added that they don’t want hospitals and health clinics overwhelmed testing people with more typical illnesses.
Sen. Annette Taddeo, D-Miami, asked Nunez and Rivkees to make the DOH website available in Spanish and Creole, and other lawmakers asked whether the state’s hotline set up to answer questions from residents cold be available 24 hours a day.
Nunez they’re looking at adding Spanish and Creole version of the website. She said it is currently open from 8 a.m. to midnight, and they are monitoring the amount of nighttime calls to see if it’s worth extending to a 24 hours per day operation.
The website can be found at floridahealth.gov/diseases-andconditions/COVID-19, and the hotline number is 866-779-6121. Residents can also email DOH at COVID-19@flhealth.gov.