Three more deaths blamed on COVID-19 in Manatee County, all in long-term care facilities
Three more deaths have been blamed on COVID-19 in Manatee County, raising the toll in the county to 78.
For a second day in a row, the latest deaths in Manatee County are all linked to local skilled nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
Statewide, 48 more deaths were reported Thursday by the Florida Department of Health, with the remaining being reported in Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Miami-Dade, Duval, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Lee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Polk counties.. The statewide death toll is 1,875.
Manatee County had seven new cases of residents testing positive.
Thursday’s data accounted for 162 new test results and there are hundreds of tests pending. The percent positive rated dropped by one tenth of a percentage point to 8.8% with the latest results. Manatee County’s positive rate has dropped substantially in recent weeks as testing became more readily available, but it remains higher than the statewide rate of 7.1%.
There are now 813 people who have tested positive in Manatee County. In Florida, there have been 43,210 cases.
Hospitalizations have increased, with 190 people now being treated for COVID-19 in Manatee County’s three hospitals but the hospitalization remains the same as the number of confirmed cases increased. The local rate also remains higher than the state’s.
Similarly, the mortality rate has not changed in Manatee County and remains more than twice that of the state.
Local nursing homes and assisted living facilities continue to be ravaged by the fatal coronavirus. The latest three deaths make 47 people that have now died in local facilities.
Currently, there 94 residents in the eight skilled nursing homes and three assisted living facilities with confirmed cases, according to data reported by staff of these facilities to the state on Wednesday. Another 60 residents who have tested positive but have been transferred to local hospitals or other facilities were also reported.
Currently, these facilities have reported 61 positive staffers to the state.
In Sarasota County, there are now 487 total cases of people testing positive for this fatal virus. Fifty-seven people have died in Sarasota County.
With the latest deaths announced the death toll in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties now stand at 46 and 65, respectively. Hillsborough County now has 1,530 total cases of people testing positive for the coronavirus, while Pinellas County has 962.
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 11:54 AM.
