39 new Florida coronavirus cases revealed overnight as state tally hits 100
The number of new Florida infections caused by the novel coronavirus has surged by 39, the Department of Health reported early Sunday morning, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 100.
The new cases reported overnight include four in Miami-Dade County, only two of which are travel related, and 17 new cases in Broward, the bulk of them with no stated connection to travel history.
The surge in positive tests came after state officials started allowing private labs to start screening patients in addition to the Department of Health’s three labs, increasing the pace of testing and reporting. In addition to the Florida residents, seven non-Florida residents have tested positive.
The Department of Health on Saturday also confirmed the third death from the infectious disease: a 77-year-old man from Lee County who had been previously diagnosed with the illness. In a previously reported case, a fourth Floridian died from COVID-19, but while in California.
Seventeen of the new cases cited a travel history that health officials have listed as “under investigation,” including 10 from Broward County and two of the Miami-Dade patients, raising new questions about whether the virus is spreading in the community among people without evident links to each other.
Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that the state is experiencing “community spread” of the coronavirus — the transmitting of the virus among those who aren’t sure how or where they got infected, although he didn’t identify which parts of the state were the most at risk.
There are now 36 cases in Broward, many but not all tied to Port Everglades, and only seven of them considered to be travel related. The county is the largest cluster of the highly contagious disease in the state.
Nine Broward cases were announced early Saturday and Nova Southeastern University acknowledged Saturday that six of the positive COVID-19 cases involved people who traveled in Ireland as part of the school’s study-abroad program.
The new Florida cases include a 48-year-old female in Orange County, the second for the Orlando region. A Transportation Security Administration confirmed on Saturday that an officer at Orlando International Airport had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The new cases also encompassed parts of the state that hadn’t before reported infections, including a 79-year-old woman from Connecticut in Baker County, a 60-year-old female in Citrus County and a 67-year-old man in Pasco County.
In addition, a 17-year-old male from Cuba tested positive in Hillsborough County.
In Miami-Dade, two of the cases are considered travel related — a 58-year-old woman and a 28-year-old woman — while the other cases are under investigation.
At a news conference on Saturday, Gov. DeSantis stressed that while the odds of getting seriously ill from the coronavirus are “still very small,” there remains the real risk of people who have no symptoms transmitting it to someone elderly, frail or physically vulnerable. On Saturday, he ordered the suspension of all visits to nursing homes, assisted living facilities and similar sites.
“This is much, much more deadly than just the seasonal flu,’‘ DeSantis said.
Also Saturday, the governor called on the U.S. government to release 61 Floridians who were previously aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which remains docked at the Port of Oakland in California. The passenger are currently being housed at an air base in Marietta, Georgia, after 21 aboard the ship — 19 crew and two passengers — were found to have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Only 46 people on board are known to have been tested.
This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 2:06 AM.
