Three in Manatee, Sarasota among newest cases of COVID-19 in Florida, state says
A Manatee County woman and two people in Sarasota are among 134 new positive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in Florida.
There are now 432 total cases of COVID-19 in Florida, of whom 393 are Florida residents, according to the latest release of information at 6 p.m. Thursday by the Florida Department of Health.
The latest case in Manatee County brings the total cases to nine. Travel has only been confirmed in one of these cases. It is unknown how two of the Manatee residents who have tested positive were exposed to the coronavirus.
So far 57 Manatee County residents have been tested, according to DOH. Of those, 15 test results are still pending, and 33 tests were negative.
Statewide, more than 3,200 people have been tested for the new coronavirus, with more than 1,000 of those test results currently pending.
In Sarasota County, there are now six cases, including cases announced Thursday in a Sarasota man and woman who is not a Sarasota resident. Only one case in Sarasota County has been confirmed to be travel related.
Far more tests have been conducted in Sarasota County, however, with a total of 231 people tested. Of those tests, 67 are still pending results and 158 have come back negative.
Elsewhere in the Tampa Bay area, there are 20 total cases in Hillsborough County and 16 total cases in Pinellas County. Hillsborough County has tested 81 people with 12 tests still pending results, and Pinellas County has tested 171 people with 50 tests still pending results.
On Tuesday, Manatee County had it’s first death from COVID-19, a 61-year-old man who was a patient at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. It is one of nine deaths from the virus that have occurred so far in Florida.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 11:26 AM.
