35 new COVID-19 deaths in Manatee. That’s more than third of all new deaths in Florida
The deaths of 35 Manatee County residents from COVID-19 were reported by the Florida Department of Health on Monday. That’s more than a third of the 91 new deaths recorded statewide.
The local deaths made up the highest reported tally in Manatee County in one day since the start of the pandemic. The previous record was reported on July 29 with 15 deaths.
The official death toll in Manatee County is now 227. Across the state, there have been 8,277 residents who have died from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
There were also 52 new cases of people testing positive for the coronavirus in Manatee County on Monday. A total of 9,340 of Manatee County residents have been infected with the coronavirus..
Statewide, there were 4,155 new cases reported, for a total of 536,961 positive cases since March.
Monday’s daily count of new cases was the lowest reported by the state since early June, when cases began to surge. Prior to the Monday, the lowest daily count of cases since then had been on Aug. 3 when 4,752 cases were confirmed, after state-run testing sites were closed for at least three days because of the threat from Hurricane Isaias.
Deadly COVID weekend
The 35 COVID deaths reported in one day in Manatee County came a week after the medical examiner’s office was crushed with 19 COVID deaths in one weekend, according to Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Russell Vega.
“We didn’t suddenly have 35 deaths in one day but we did have a lot of deaths last weekend,” Vega said. “I was not as diligent as I could have or should have been in reporting those.”
All 19 victims had tested positive before dying.
Vega and his staff have been stretched thin as they have seen their workload increase. He has since brought on a medical examiner who willingly came out of retirement and one of the department’s former investigators who suddenly became available to help him and his staff catch up.
“Both of those happening was very fortunate,” Vega said.
While a few suspected COVID-19 cases remain backlogged, according to Vega, rulings on cause of death have been made in the majority of the cases from that weekend.
Often times, Vega and his associates are able to get the records they need to make a determination in a day, he said, enabling them to make a ruling quickly. But there are a couple COVID cases that have taken them several weeks to resolve. The challenge is getting medical records from hospitals and sometimes long-term care facilities who are also slammed.
Only six of the 35 new cases were either residents or staffers at a local long-term care facility — a trend that Vega said has been consistent since after the state’s second phase of reopening. Deaths are beginning to trend older again, however.
The age range for the 35 deaths was between 32 and 99. Vega and his staff are also seeing more Hispanic victims dying from COVID-19, he said.
Hospitalizations continue downward trend
In the past week, hospitalizations for COVID-19 have continued a slow downward tick daily, with the exception of Sunday.
As of Monday, there were 87 patients at one of Manatee County’s three general hospitals who were positive for the coronavirus, according to data the hospitals report to county officials.
According to the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration, 80 patients at Manatee County hospitals were admitted with COVID-19 being a primary diagnosis.
Local data has confirmed the trend identified by many public health and infectious disease experts in which a surge of cases is followed by a spike in hospitalizations and later an increase in deaths.
Manatee County’s three general hospitals were at or near capacity for about a month. The decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations came after a weekend with 19 deaths.
As of Monday, there 32 total staffed beds, including 11 intensive-care unit beds, available among the three hospitals.
Surrounding counties
- Sarasota County cases increased from 6,231 to 6,256. The death toll increased from 139 to 147.
- DeSoto County cases increases from 1,348 to 1,358. The death toll remained at 16.
- Hardee County cases increased from 956 to 976. The death toll remained at seven.
- Hillsborough County cases increased from 32,452 to 32,731. The death toll remained at 388.
- Pinellas County cases increased from 17,775 to 17,941. The death toll remained at 500.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 11:56 AM.
