FL health officials announce one new COVID-19 death, 5 new cases, bringing total to 160
The number of Florida infections caused by the novel coronavirus has increased by 24, the Department of Health reported Monday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 160.
There are currently 142 positive cases among Florida residents and 18 positive cases among non-residents. All five new cases announced Monday night were Florida residents.
One new case was found in Broward County, and one new death was announced in Orange County.
That brings the COVID-19 death toll in Florida to five.
The numbers reported over the course of Monday included 10 new cases in Miami-Dade County and two new cases in Broward County, bringing the totals to 23 and 39, respectively. All those numbers were expected to continue to rise in coming weeks.
Nineteen of the new cases were announced earlier Monday afternoon.
The newly announced Broward County cases included a 60-year-old man who recently traveled to Spain, a 51-year-old woman who recently traveled to Colombia and a 76-year-old man who recently traveled to Trinidad and Tobago.
Travel-related Miami-Dade cases announced Monday included a 43-year-old man who traveled to Utah. The rest had no travel detail listed.
Unlike previous announcements, the Department of Health is now disseminating new case information via interactive “dashboard,” which shows the number of cases by county with a breakdown of patient information by gender.
According to the department, about 28% of people who tested positive had traveled. About 20% had contact with someone who had a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus. About 32% of patients both traveled and had contact with someone who has COVID-19, and about 20% of the cases are still under investigation.
About 28% of cases were tested in a private labs, which came online last week to supplement state lab testing in Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville.
Of the 1,805 people in the state who have been tested, 829 of the results are still pending.
The new data also showed testing sites, and where the positive tests came from. As of Monday night, the bulk of tests were coming out of the state lab in Miami, followed by the other two state labs in Jacksonville and Tampa. Miami had conducted 458 tests, 66 of which were positive.
Locally, Memorial Regional Hospital South in Hollywood has conducted 185 tests with nine positive results, and University of Miami Hospital has conducted five.
The new data showed the daily percent of emergency room visits statewide that mention “cough” has been elevated for the past two weeks. Shortness of breath and fever are “stable and within expected levels” for this time of year. Same goes for Broward County emergency departments.
Last week Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledged for the first time that the state is experiencing “community spread” of the coronavirus, which means the virus is being transmitted among those who aren’t sure how or where they got infected.
South Florida has emerged as the state’s epicenter of a growing public health crisis, and many cases have no stated connection to travel history. While 28 counties have confirmed cases, Broward has the most, followed by Miami-Dade and Palm Beach.
All those numbers are expected to grow in coming weeks.
On Sunday, DeSantis announced a significant testing step — the state’s first mobile testing station — will be set up in Miramar, free of charge.
Running the testing station involves bringing in more members of the Florida National Guard, which will work in partnership with Memorial Health Care in Broward County. The Guard, which had already deployed more than 176 members in Broward, will be boosted to 478 personnel soon, a spokeswoman for DeSantis said.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 1:20 PM.