Florida Keys COVID-19 case was contracted in the United Kingdom, Health Department said
The person who the state Department of Health in Monroe County says tested positive for COVID-19 is a 72-year-old woman who contracted the virus outside of the country
Bob Eadie, administrator of the Key’s Department of Health office, said she is receiving medical care and is expected to make a full recovery.
Eadie said once the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention confirms the test results, the woman will be the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Florida Keys.
“We just moved from a world of when the first case is going to happen to learning we have our first presumptive case,” Eadie said during a conference call meeting Friday with government officials and business leaders.
The Department of Health said the person contracted the virus in the United Kingdom.
So far, 30 people in the Keys have been tested. Results for the majority of those screenings are pending.
“There is no indication of community spread at this time,” Eadie said.
He added, however, that the county’s ability to test people is “very, very low.”
Shortly after 10:30 pm., a Monroe County spokeswoman sent an email saying the case is travel related and has not been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The message is still the same,” Eadie said. “Continue social distancing and keep people out of the Keys so the people and the disease don’t interact.”
Health department officials are not identifying the woman or saying where in the Keys she lives to protect her privacy.
“This individual is isolated at her home and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by the Department,” the department said in a statement Friday morning.
Monroe’s Sheriff Rick Ramsay said there was concern one inmate had COVID-19, but the Department of Health tested that person, and the results came back negative.
“We’re still clear in the jail, which is awesome,” he said.
The announcement comes after Monroe County ordered all hotels in the Florida Keys closed late Thursday afternoon until further notice starting at 6 p.m. on Sunday. The county has about 16,500 lodging units, which includes hotels and vacation rentals.
The hotel closures, initiated to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, will last for the next 14 days and will be reevaluated every day.
The policy does not include workers with jobs in the Keys, first responders and contractors, county officials say.
Monroe County had allowed restaurants to serve seated customers, but they had to operate at 50 percent capacity. But, Friday afternoon, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order mandating all restaurants in the state only serve takeout and delivery customers.
Officials are meeting at 2 p.m. Friday to discuss the possibility of moving to the Key West model, but county leadership indicated they wanted to maintain the current policy.
County Administrator Roman Gastesi said it gives businesses an opportunity to make money in the midst of the pandemic, and it also allows people to get away from self isolation.
“It gives people a place to go and sit down,” Gastesi said.
As of Thursday, 30 people had been tested in the Keys. Ten tests had come back negative, while the rest were pending.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 11:46 PM.
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