Manatee woman tests positive for COVID-19, bumping county total to 10
The Florida Department of Health announced several new local cases of COVID-19 Friday.
More than 131 new cases were announced throughout the day. One of them was a 63-year-old Manatee woman without a relevant travel history. A Sarasota man and woman are among the new cases, too.
The new cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in Florida to 563. Officials say 510 of them are Florida residents.
Manatee County has a total of 10 positive cases, while Sarasota County now has eight total cases. One Manatee County resident has died.
Two of the new cases are patients being treated at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, the hospital confirmed. One patient is their 60’s and the other is in their 70’s, and both tested positive late Thursday night.
A total of six people have been diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Three of those patients have since recovered and been released from the hospital.
Along with the news of new cases at Sarasota Memorial, the hospital also announced that it is suspending visitation.
Florida’s overall death toll from the novel coronavirus is now 11.
Testing in Manatee County lags
As of Thursday evening, 57 Manatee County residents had been tested for the novel coronavirus, of which 15 results were pending. The DOH has not yet released the latest testing figures by county. In contrast, Sarasota County had tested 231 people, of which 67 were still pending.
Manatee Department of Health officer Dr. Jennifer Bencie acknowledged that there was a lack of specimen collection kits and PPR, or personal protection equipment, in the county during a news conference with other Manatee County officials on Friday afternoon.
It was the first time Bencie has taken questions from reporters on the COVID-19 outbreak. Bencie has not been present any news conferences to answer questions about testing. The Bradenton Herald has also made numerous and repeated requests to interview her which have gone unanswered.
In Sarasota, health officer Charles Henry has made himself available at multiple news conferences.
Six of nine residents in Manatee County who have tested positive with the coronavirus didn’t acquire it by traveling. Only one case, Manatee County woman who had gone on a Nile cruise in Egypt, is confirmed to have been exposed while traveling.
Henry said he could not speak for Manatee County or as to the reason for the lack in testing in some counties. Bencie attributed the difference in testing to Sarasota there being larger hospitals there.
The first case of COVID-19 in Florida was a 63-year-old Manatee County man who was diagnosed with the coronavirus at Doctors Hospital. He has since recovered and been released from the hospital.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 11:30 AM.
