Four Manatee residents die from COVID-19. Deaths in state grow by 83, the most in one day
Four more residents have been added to the COVID-19 death toll in Manatee County, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Statewide, 83 more COVID-19 deaths were recorded Tuesday, the highest number in one day. In addition to local deaths, those deaths occurred in Broward, Collier, Columbia, Dade, Duval, Hillsborough, Lee, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Sarasota, St. Lucie and Suwannee counties.
Overall, 46 Manatee County residents have died from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
An additional 30 county residents had tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the latest data released by the health department, putting the total number of cases at 563.
The current total case load in Manatee has far exceeded IEM daily projections, that didn’t have the county hitting 560 cases until Friday. With more testing being available in Manatee County at MCR Health and with the reopening of the drive-thru testing site at the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto, a spike in cases is probable.
Statewide, 32,846 people have tested positive.
Manatee County, which has consistently had one of the highest positive rates in the state, saw a rise in the rate on Tuesday with 15.7% of those tested being positive for the coronavirus. Of those tests processed Monday, 42% were positive.
The statewide rate is 8.9 percent. Only three counties have a higher rate than Manatee: Gasden, Jefferson and Suwannee.
Manatee County’s COVID-19 mortality rate is twice as high as the state’s with 8% of all cases ending in death. The county also has a higher hospitalization rate, with 24% of people testing positive having had to be hospitalized, compared to 16% of cases statewide.
Of those deaths recorded by the health department, 21 of them are connected to one of six skilled nursing homes or three assisted living facilities in Manatee County with confirmed cases. This remains the highest outside of South Florida.
In Sarasota County, there are now 334 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus. With 39 deaths recorded, Sarasota has a higher mortality rate than Manatee County and the state, with 12% of people dying from COVID-19.
In Hillsborough County, there are now 1,080 total cases, with 22 people dying from COVID-19. There are 709 people total Pinellas County who have tested positive for the coronavirus including 31 whom have died.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 11:49 AM.
