Man in Broward County assisted living facility dies after novel coronavirus infection
A 77-year-old man who was living at an assisted living facility in Broward County has died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at a news conference in Tallahassee Tuesday morning.
The man had “significant underlying medical problems,” DeSantis said.
He announced that Florida now has 192 positive cases of COVID-19, 173 of whom are Florida residents.
The number grew by 20 percent overnight. On Monday, the total cases reached 160.
According to data published by state health officials Tuesday, four new cases in Broward County have been announced, growing the number from 39 to 51 cases overnight, including eight non-Florida residents.
Cases out of Miami-Dade County rose from 23 to 35 overnight, including two non-Florida residents and one person diagnosed out of state.
Last week, 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.
The county has been hardest hit by the novel coronavirus, but those numbers are likely just scratching the surface.
On Monday, one day after DeSantis declared he was sending the National Guard to mobilize a testing station in the county, hospital employees said their testing has been largely limited to sending samples to off-site labs and waiting for the results to come back.
That includes state-run labs, which have narrow criteria for who can be tested, and commercial labs, which can take three to five days to turn around. The Broward Health hospital system cannot do on-site testing, and Baptist Health South Florida urgent care centers also have to send samples off site as it waits for a reagent required in testing that is on back-order due to a national shortage.
Memorial Healthcare is doing some on-site testing but is similarly constrained by supply shortages.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 11:07 AM.
