Manatee County has 16 novel coronavirus cases. One of them is a 14-year-old boy
The newest cases of COVID-19 in Florida include a 14-year-old boy from Manatee County, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Testing continues to lag in Manatee County, compared to surrounding counties where the number of cases is increasing more exponentially.
The total cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in Florida is now 1,467, with 240 new cases announced Tuesday. The update includes one new case in Manatee County.
Manatee County now has a total of 16 cases, including a 70-year-old man who died. The county had tested 141 people as of Tuesday evening with nine of those tests still pending. Only two cases of COVID-19 in Manatee County have been connected to travel.
Manatee County officials said Tuesday that a drive-thru testing center would be set up in the county later this week.
A 68-year-old Manatee County man who tested positive on Monday is the latest case of COVID-19 in the county. According to the latest FDOH data, there are eight people from Bradenton, two people from Lakewood Ranch, two people from northern Longboat Key and one person from Parrish who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The 14-year-old boy was listed as a new case late Monday, while a 75-year-old woman previously listed as a Manatee County case was removed from the list. The Bradenton Herald has not yet received a response from local or state health department officials about the change.
Sarasota County now has 26 total cases, with five new cases announced Tuesday. Sarasota County had tested 439 people as of Tuesday evening, more than three times as many as Manatee.
Sarasota Memorial Hospital announced that two patients died on Tuesday, one of whom had tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 and one suspected to have the disease whose test results were pending.
“On behalf of the hospital and the clinical team dedicated to caring for these patients, we extend our deepest sympathies to their families and friends,” Sarasota Memorial CEO David Verinder said in a press release. “It is a sad and sobering reality to see the effects of this virus across the world, and now in our own community, but our team stands united and prepared to fight this together.”
To date, FDOH has confirmed 20 deaths due to the disease in Florida. Tuesday’s deaths in Sarasota are not included in that total.
Leading the Tampa Bay area is Hillsborough County with a total of 95 cases, including 20 new cases announced Tuesday. As of Tuesday evening, there had been 1,402 people tested in Hillsborough County.
Hillsborough County has seen several young children test positive for the coronavirus. Children ages 3,6, 14 and 15 were among those who had tested positive on Tuesday morning alone.
Pinellas County now has four new cases of COVID-19, taking its total cases to 45. As of late Tuesday, there had been 704 people tested in Pinellas.
One of the Pinellas patients has died and 14 required hospitalization.
Herald staff writer Ryan Ballogg contributed to this story.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 11:40 AM.
