Coronavirus in Florida – March 16th update
Bottom Line: As the virus has begun to reach a far larger scale in the United States, along with the near grinding to a halt of life as usual, we’ve naturally experienced our share of new cases in Florida. We had a doubling of COVID-19 diagnosed cases in Florida over the weekend with 149 total cases as of this entry. This included people ranging in age from 19 to 83. It also includes a TSA employee at Orlando International Airport. We're increasingly seeing younger people being diagnosed in our state. At least twenty-one of the cases, based on what we know now, involve those under the age of 30. And without a doubt, Broward has become ground zero for the virus in Florida with the first instances of community spread. Here are the number of cases in South Florida based on the most recent information available...
- Broward: 36
- Miami-Dade: 13
- Palm Beach: 5
These numbers will rise once the demographic information is updated by the Florida Department of Health. In the early going of testing we’re seeing a really high rate of positive tests. To date, 22% of all test results for COVID-19 have come back positive in Florida. That’s much higher than the guidance provided by the Coronavirus Task Force based on results nationally and internationally which have ranged from 1%-4%. There are 514 outstanding tests awaiting results – so expect this number to increase considerably today, along with an increase in testing in future days.