Fifth Person Dies From Coronavirus In Florida, More Test Positive

A fifth person has died in Florida from the coronavirus, state officials announced Monday evening.

The person died in Orange County, a release from the state said, but no other details were provided.

The state also announced that five more Florida residents tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total cases in Florida to 160. Earlier Monday, Florida officials announced 19 new positive cases. The state has now committed to updating the number of positive cases twice a day.

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The number of people being tested for the disease also has jumped over the past several days as the state’s partnership with private laboratories gets up and running. So far, 1,824 people have been tested for COVID-19 with 160 positive results, 816 negative results and 848 pending results.

And more resources for testing could be on the way as $28 million in federal funding will soon be available to Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a release.

“These funds will increase the capacity in our state labs for more testing and support our efforts to investigate and monitor cases,” DeSantis said.

Drive-through testing sites are expected to open soon around the state, with the first one in Broward County. Other sites are being developed in Fort Myers, Pensacola, West Palm Beach and Tallahassee. 

Along with the updated numbers, the state released several pieces of new information, including emergency room admission rates and the number of tests each lab around the state has completed.

Statewide, admission rates for cough, shortness of breath and fever at emergency departments remains within expected levels for this time of year, according to the data. However, the percentage of emergency department visits that mentioned cough has been elevated for the past two weeks, jumping from around 6% to nearly 12%, the data shows.

In Broward County, which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, the emergency department visits that mentioned cough rose even higher to 14%.

Broward also has seen the most people test positive for the disease, with about 11 % of the 462 tests coming back positive.

Of Florida’s 160 cases, 45 are travel related, 32 have had contact with a sick person, 51 have traveled and had contact with a sick person. The remaining cases have causes that are unknown or under investigation, according to the state.

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