Florida nears 2,000 COVID-19 cases as 295 more reported, officials say. One more death.
Florida neared 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases as the Florida Department of Health reported 295 more cases Wednesday evening, bringing the state total up to 1,977. One more death was also reported, raising the death toll statewide to 23.
The new death comes from Citrus County, which is in North Florida and is home to Homosassa Springs.
Of the new cases, 284 are Florida residents and 11 are non-Florida residents. In total, 1,867 are Florida residents, while 110 are not.
One of three new deaths added on Wednesday was five-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally.
McNally is best known for his top-billed Broadway musicals “Ragtime” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and the musical adaption of hit movies, including “Anastasia,” according to Playbill.com. He died at Sarasota Memorial Hospital Tuesday.
The 81-year-old playwright died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, his husband Tom Kirdahy told the New York Times. McNally, who was a Florida resident, had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and had overcome lung cancer.
McNally did not have contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, but had recently traveled to New York, which has more than 30,000 confirmed cases, the single largest outbreak in the country, according to health officials. The playwright is the first COVID-19 death in Sarasota County, according to health department records.
The second death was a 71-year-old woman in Pasco County who had recently traveled to Virginia and was listed as a “travel-related” case. She had contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, according to health department records.
COVID-19 cases in South Florida
Of the new cases, 91 more were reported in Miami-Dade County, pushing the total number of confirmed cases to 491. Health officials say 105 of the total number of confirmed cases in the county are travel-related, with 78 of them listed as “not travel-related,” and 308 as “travel unknown.”
Broward recorded 57 new confirmed cases, bringing the total up to 412, with 142 of the cases listed as “not travel-related.” Health officials say 110 of the cases are travel-related, with 160 listed as travel unknown.
Three of the new reported cases were in Monroe County, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Keys to 11, according to the state’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
A 20-year-old woman who recently traveled to France and an 80-year-old man who recently traveled to Haiti are part of Wednesday’s new “travel-related” cases in the county this week. They are the youngest and oldest confirmed cases in the Keys.
Another travel-related case is a 79-year-old man, a non-Florida resident, who was tested or isolated in the county.
Out of the 11 cases, two are not travel-related — one of which is a woman who officials believe came into contact with someone who came from another area in Florida where there were COVID-19 infections.
Palm Beach County saw an additional 23 cases Wednesday evening, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 141, with 84 of the total cases listed as “travel unknown.” 31 cases are travel-related while 26 are not.
South Florida resident breakdown on ages, hospitalizations, deaths
Miami-Dade County: 491
▪ 475 are residents, 15 are non-residents and one is a resident not in Florida.
▪ Age range is 10 to 99; average age is 46
▪ Zero deaths and 55 hospitalizations
Broward County: 412
▪ 397 are residents and 15 are non-residents
▪ Age range is 0 to 96, average age is 48
▪ Three deaths and 63 hospitalizations
Palm Beach County: 141
▪ 133 are residents, seven are non-residents and one is a resident not in Florida.
▪ Age range is 6 to 88, average age is 49
▪ Three deaths and 24 hospitalizations
Monroe County: 11
▪ Nine residents and two non-residents
▪ Age range is 20 to 80, average age is 54
▪ Zero deaths and three hospitalizations
Miami Herald staff writers Gwen Filosa and David Goodhue contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 11:42 AM.
