Almost half of COVID-19 deaths in Manatee have been at long-term care centers, state says
Almost half of the people who have died in Manatee County from COVID-19 were residents or staff at long-term care facilities in Manatee County, according to the Florida Department of Health.
The eight people who have died are among the 126 who have died in such facilities statewide. In all, 20 people have died in Manatee County from COVID-19.
The number of deaths that have occurred among residents and staffers at long-term care facilities was not previously released by the health department. But on Wednesday afternoon, that data was first made available.
The local and state departments of health and Governor Ron DeSantis’ office have repeatedly refused to release the names of all long-term care facilities with confirmed cases of COVID-19. There are 1,394 cases statewide of residents or staff at long-term care facilities who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
In Manatee County, there are 46 cases among residents or staff at local facilities. Among them is Braden River Rehabilitation Center, 2010 Manatee Ave. E., a 208-bed licensed skilled nursing home that the Bradenton Herald independently confirmed has had multiple cases of the disease.
New COVID-19 death and cases reported
Manatee County had 32 new cases of COVID-19 among more than 800 new cases of the disease announced by the Florida Department of Health on Thursday.
Manatee County had 309 cases of people who have tested for the new coronavirus, including two nonresidents.
Another COVID-19-related fatality was reported, bringing the total confirmed deaths in Manatee County to 20.
Statewide, there were 23,340 cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday evening. A total of 54 new deaths were announced by the state health department, including in Broward, Dade, Lee and Palm Beach in counties. The virus’s death toll in Florida is now at 668.
Of those who have tested positive for the coronavirus, there have been 62 people that required hospitalization in Manatee County and 3,458 statewide.
As of Thursday morning, Manatee County’s test positivity rate remained elevated at 14.9 percent, compared to 9.2 percent in Sarasota County, 6.5 percent in Hillsborough County and 5.5 percent in Pinellas County. A high positivity rate can indicate that testing in a given area has been limited to people with COVID-19 symptoms, according to health experts, meaning that other carriers are going undiagnosed. If the rate remains high with more widespread testing, it could indicate a more severe outbreak of the virus.
In Sarasota County, there are 260 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus and 17 of those patients who died from COVID-19. Twenty-five of Sarasota’s cases of COVID-19 are residents or staffers at long-term care facilities, of whom two have died.
Hillsborough County continues to have more confirmed cases than other counties in the Tampa Bay area with 878 people who tested positive. The death toll there is 18. Sixteen of Hillsborough’s cases are among residents or staffers at long-term care facilities, none of whom have died.
In Pinellas County, there are now 530 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus; 14 have died. In recent days, the county has seen a huge spike of confirmed cases in long-term care facilities, with 62 residents or staffers that tested positive. One of those people died.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 11:20 AM.
