TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health on Wednesday night announced three new positive cases of coronavirus disease, bringing the number linked to the state to 31, including 23 residents.
The death count has remained at two in Florida since Friday as the number of confirmed fatalities in the United States rose to 37 and surpassed 1,200 cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins. Worldwide, the fatalities passed 4,600 with mpore than 126,000 case
The cases involve a 56-year-old man in Miami-Dade County, a 70-year-old man in Broward County and a 63-year old New York man who is currently in St. Johns County, which is in northern Florida.
All of the patients are in isolation until cleared by public health officials.
The case in Broward is the fifth one in the county. This individual attended an Emergency Medical Services Conference from March 4-6 in Tampa, and an epidemiological investigation is underway.
The case in St. Johns is travel-related case where this individual traveled from New York to attend Daytona Bike Week in Daytona, which is currently underway from March 6 through Sunday. The New York Department of Health is leading the epidemiological investigation for this individual.
The department recommends all individuals experiencing symptoms who attended the events in Daytona and Tampa to immediately contact their county Health Department or health care provider and self-isolate for 14 Days.
On Tuesday night, eight additional cases were announced. The new Florida cases include residents from 46 to 73 years of age: three in Pinellas County, two in Collier County, one in Pasco County, one in Nassau County and a 68-year-old Georgia resident currently in Alachua County. Those were the first cases confirmed in those counties.
On Tuesday morning, the department announced a 69-year-old woman in Broward County has tested positive for the virus. She is the third positive case of the virus associated with Port Everglades. She is also the third employee of Metro Cruise Services to become infected. The company greets cruise ship passengers.
The Florida victims who died were a patient in Santa Rosa County, Florida's Panhandle, after an international trip and a person in Lee County in his or her 70s who also traveled abroad.
All but five of the cases involving residents are travel related and one is being investigated.
The youngest patient is a 29-year-old female in Hillsborough County and the oldest is an 81-year-old woman in Manatee County.
The Florida Department of Health recommends all individuals experiencing symptoms, who have recently traveled through Port Everglades, to immediately contact their county Health Department or health care provider and self-isolate for 14 Days.
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The number of cases and deaths have drastically dropped in Mainland China, where the outbreak started in early January. On Thursday morning, 11 new cases and 15 deaths were announced compared with daily cases in the thousands and deaths in the hundreds at its peak. Since the virus was identified in early January, there have been more than 3,100 deaths and naerly 81,000 cases in mainland China.
