Manatee County Patient Is State's Seventh Coronavirus Fatality

A Manatee County patient has become the state’s seventh fatality from the coronavirus, state officials announced on Tuesday.

The state did not release any more details about the patient.

Manatee was one of the state’s first two counties with an announced case of COVID-19 at the beginning of the month.

There are now 216 patients with the coronavirus in Florida, after the state added 24 cases in its 6 p.m. update on Tuesday. Twenty-two of the new cases are Florida residents and two are non-Florida residents.

Earlier on Tuesday, the state announced the death of a Broward County patient at an assisted living facility. It is investigating at least one other possible case of COVID-19 at the facility, officials said.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said Tuesday that three people have died at two long-term care facilities but that the state only has test results for one of the people. Test results for the other two are pending, Trantalis told reporters.

But Florida health officials on Tuesday stopped short of confirming Trantalis’ comments.

State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees noted that while authorities had concluded that one death was due to the virus, he would only say they were investigating another death at the same facility.

“We have one confirmed individual who passed from COVID-19, and all other individuals who have symptoms for that who have passed away are being evaluated,” Rivkees said.

The Broward County assisted-living facility where the 77-year-old resident died from the virus has 218 beds, according to Rivkees.

Of Florida’s 216 cases 21 are non-Florida residents. Another six Florida residents have COVID-19 and are being treated out of state.

The state announced Tuesday that it is ordering additional supplies and protective equipment through Direct Federal Assistance, including mobile intensive care units, hospital beds, gloves, gowns and facemasks.

Field hospitals are being deployed in Orlando, Broward County and Ocala, state officials said.

Florida Department of Emergency Management is also working with the federal government to see if it’s possible to order Navy ships at Florida ports.

The News Service of Florida contributed to this report. 

Copyright 2020 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7