The mayor of Weston has tested positive for coronavirus, city says
Weston Mayor Daniel J. Stermer has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
He received his test results late Sunday night, according to the city.
The city says Stermer has been in quarantine since March 31 and will remain in quarantine at least until April 14.
He was tested at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston on April 2 and received his results about four days later, according to the Sun Sentinel. The clinic is one of the dozen locations offering drive-thru COVID-19 testing in South Florida.
“Always the optimist & fighter, he continues to work from home,” the city wrote on Twitter late Sunday.
Stermer was elected as mayor in 2012 and also serves as president of the Broward League of Cities. The Broward mayor is one of the most recent South Florida elected officials to fall ill with COVID-19.
The first was Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who tested positive for the disease in mid-March and has since recovered after exhibiting mild to no symptoms during the 14-day quarantine period. Suarez donated his blood last week as part of an experimental treatment called convalescent plasma therapy, which doctors hope could help patients fight off the disease.
Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, the first member of Congress to test positive for the disease, also announced his recovery on Twitter Sunday afternoon. He also plans on donating his blood for the experimental treatment.
How many people have fallen ill with COVID-19?
COVID-19 has infected more than a million people across the the world and has killed more than 60,000. More than 265,400 have recovered.
In the United States, there are more than 337,000 confirmed cases of the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine COVID-19 dashboard. 17,582 have recovered from the disease, as of Monday morning.
As of Sunday night, Florida has more than 12,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 200 recorded deaths.
Some of the known deaths include Deputy Shannon Bennett of the Broward County Sheriff Office, Margate internist Dr. Alex Hsu, Sgt. Diaz Ayala of the Palm Beach County Sheriff Office and five-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 7:43 AM.
