COVID-19 kills 3 more people in Manatee County. Total number of cases tops 700
Three more people have died from COVID-19 in Manatee County, raising the county’s death toll to 64. In Florida, 68 more deaths were reported..
Manatee County had 38 new cases of people testing positive for the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease. A total of 722 people have tested positive locally, according to the latest data released by the Florida Department of Health on Wednesday morning.
The latest flurry of cases were among the more than 1,000 people who have been tested in recent days as testing ramped up in their area. The rate of those testing positive in Manatee County has dropped to 11.6%. Statewide, 7.9% of those tested have been found to have the coronavirus.
Statewide, the death toll now stands at 1,539. Other than the three local deaths reported, the remaining occurred in Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Dade, Escambia, Flagler, Hendry, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Suwannee and Volusia counties.
In Florida, there were 563 new cases of people testing positive for the coronavirus, raising the total to 38,002.
Testing has drastically increased in Manatee County but continues to fall short of the demand.
The National Guard-run regional testing site set up near the Mall at University Town Center has reached the 400 tests-a-day capacity each day this week.
As folks were being turned away Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference at the site would begin testing up to 750 people per day the next day.
By 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, the site had already reached its intake capacity of 400 people and was again turning people away, according to Sarasota County government which has been releasing the information to news outlets.
The site did resume taking people, Manatee County Director Jacob Saur said later, but stopped because lines were at capacity and they didn’t want to interrupt traffic. Just before 4 p.m., the site was approaching 750 tests completed for the day.
According to the latest data released by the department of health, there were 49 residents combined who have tested positive for the coronavirus at the eight skilled nursing homes or three assisted living facilitates that currently have confirmed cases.
Another 53 residents who have tested positive at one of these facilities have been transferred to a hospital or other facility. A combined total of 47 staffers among the facilities were positive as of Tuesday.
A total of 170 people suffering from COVID-19 have been hospitalized in Manatee County hospitals as of Wednesday, with 304 available hospital beds, according to a Manatee County government report.
On Wednesday, the Manatee Department of Health’s drive-thru testing site at the Bradenton Area Convention Center opened for a third time. This week’s event will run three days, taking 100 appointments a day, all of which have already been booked.
In Sarasota County, there are now 405 people cases of people testing positive for the coronavirus, or 7.1% of those who have been tested. A total of 49 people have died in Sarasota from COVID-19.
In Hillsborough County, there are 1,331 cases of people testing positive for the virus. Hillsborough has had 33 people die from the disease. There is a total of 801 cases in Pinellas County, including 50 deaths.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 11:17 AM.
