Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
DeSantis asks people 65 and older to isolate
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking seniors — and anyone who has traveled from New York state in the past three weeks — to quarantine to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
The requests came in the form of two executive orders to be issued late Tuesday.
The first order instructs anyone who has traveled from New York state over the past three weeks to immediately self isolate.
It was prompted by the large number of New Yorkers who left the state and went to Florida after restrictions were enacted there because of the virus outbreak. The order expands on one the governor issued Tuesday instructing people flying from the Empire State to immediately self-isolate. That order wasn’t retroactive, and only applied to people flying into Florida from New York.
In the second order, the governor will direct Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees to ask seniors 65 and older, and anyone who has a severe underlying condition, such as severe asthma or a compromised immune system, to stay at home for the next 14 days. The order is brought on by the fact that coronavirus has a much higher mortality rate for these groups.
It is unclear if those ordered to isolate will be allowed out to gather es
sential supplies or how exactly the state plans to enforce the orders. That information is expected to be released once the actual executive orders are published.
Earlier Tuesday, DeSantis asked the Trump administration, in a letter, to send the state funds to help with unemployment, crisis counseling, community-disaster loans, and food aid, which DeSantis says the state will need. The letter also provides previously unreleased details about the state’s response to the deadly pathogen, providing a picture of the devastation already wrought.
According to the letter, Florida has spent or is projected to spend about $208 million fighting the virus. Additionally, there are currently 109 potential cases of coronavirus in the state’s nursing homes presently under investigation, and over 130,000 people called the state’s unemployment hotline last week seeking assistance, a huge jump from the previous week.
Latest developments
Concerns are mounting that Florida could emerge as an epicenter in the coronavirus pandemic with a World Health Organization official ringing the alarm about rising cases in the United States.
According to data released by the Florida Department of Health, an infant and a 2-year-old in Broward County have tested positive for the coronavirus. They represent the youngest people known to have been infected in the state.
Universal Studios said its theme parks would remain closed through at least April 19.
All jury trials in the state of Florida have been suspended until April 17, according to an an emergency order published by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady on Tuesday.
Some Broward County leaders want to stop a ship from docking in Port Everglades. The ship has 77 people showing symptoms, and local leaders worry it would be a health risk to let them disembark.
Restaurants across South Florida quickly pivoted to takeout and delivery last week because of emergency regulations spawned by the coronavirus crisis. But now a grim reality is setting in: Thousands of restaurants and bars may not survive the pandemic’s devastating economic impact.
Nervous shoppers are questioning just how safe it is to head to the supermarket. There are things you can do to lower risk of infection.
Broward Health suspended testing at its site after running out of swab and sample collection materials.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office is warning of scammers looking to take advantage of the virus outbreak.
Arrests in Palm Beach, Broward are down sharply. Could coronavirus be the reason?
By the numbers
The Department of Health’s 6 p.m. Tuesday update brought the state’s total documented coronavirus cases to 1,467 infections.
Broward and MiamiDade are the counties with the highest number of cases in Florida. Broward has 312 cases. Miami-Dade has 367. Palm Beach County has 104. There have been a total of 20 deaths attributed to the virus in the state.
Out of the 20 total deaths in the state, six have been reported in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
In the United States, there are over 46,000 confirmed cases, with at least 591 deaths.
There are almost 400,000 confirmed cases worldwide in more than 100 countries and territories, with more than 17,000 deaths.
The number of documented cases in a given location is not necessarily an accurate reflection of the actual number of infected people.
In South Florida, a welldocumented testing bottleneck and the likely existence of widespread community transmission means that the number of infected persons may well be much higher than the total number of documented cases.
However, given the limited data, reliable estimates of the total number of infected persons in the state are not currently available as of Sunday.