FL New Coronavirus: Governor Sees 'Evidence Of Community Spread'

TALLAHASSEE, FL — A 77-year-old man from Lee County was confirmed to be the fourth Florida resident to die from the new coronavirus Saturday as Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledged there is "evidence of community spread" in his state.

"I think the message is, particularly for folks who are elderly, who are frail or just have an underlying medical condition, is just avoid crowds," the governor advised.

State health officials announced 39 more positive cases of the new coronavirus disease early Sunday, the most in any one-day period since the first two cases were reported nearly two weeks ago.

Broward County has 40 cases of the new coronavirus — more than any of Florida's 67 counties, including three cases with no apparent link to international travel or someone who contracted the illness from a known source.

"That is still being investigated, but in terms of when you have unlinked cases, that is evidence of community spread," DeSantis said. "I think the important thing to know is we’ve been operating under the assumption — with everything we’re doing with mitigation measures — assuming you were going to see spread in some portion of Florida's communities."

At least 11 of the Broward cases involve international travel. At least six others were linked back to Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades and still another involved a Georgia resident who tested positive in Florida. At least one person attended an EMS conference in Tampa while at least two others had close contacts with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, according to the governor and state health officials.

DeSantis also said he asked the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to send 61 Florida residents back to the state after disembarking from the Grand Princess cruise ship off the coast of San Francisco, where at least 19 crew members and two guests tested positive for the virus, according to Princess Cruises. The Florida residents have been in isolation at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia.

"Many of these Floridians are elderly. It’s been a difficult situation for them," DeSantis said Saturday at the state's Emergency Operations Center. "They will be tested. They will have to do the self-isolation, but I think it’s much better for everyone if they can be safely brought back, and be able to get back to their homes."

Florida Department of Health officials said the Lee County man who died had a recent history of international travel.

The state's other deaths from the new coronavirus included a 68-year-old Orange County woman who tested positive in California after traveling to Asia and elderly patients in Santa Rosa County and Lee County, both of whom suffered from serious underlying conditions. See: Interactive Map: Latest US Coronavirus Cases

DeSantis said he also ordered the renewals of all Florida driver's licenses and light professional certifications to be suspended for 30 days.

"We don’t want people to have to worry about that right now while they are dealing with the effects of COVID-19," the governor said.

He also extended nursing home and assisted living facility licenses for 90 days to remove potential distractions from patient care.

Saturday's press briefing followed an earlier wave of more than 25 new confirmed Florida, including Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

The mayor of Florida's largest city self-quarantined himself Thursday as did U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez after meeting with Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro during his recent visit to Florida.

Bolsonaro's press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for the new coronavirus after accompanying his president on the Florida visit, which included a stop at President Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort. The president told reporters he too has been tested. The test came back negative.

The total number of Florida residents with the illness now stands at 105 plus one person from California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Texas, Europe and two from New York, who were tested in Florida, according to state health officials. See an updated county-by-county breakdown at the bottom of this story. See Florida Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Coronavirus

DeSantis said some recent cases are tied to domestic travel while earlier cases have been linked to international travel.

"We’re starting to see it being brought in from other states, primarily New York," DeSantis said. "So you have a lot of flights back and forth between New York and Fort Lauderdale. People are bringing it in."

A New York attorney who tested positive for the new coronavirus also traveled to Miami in early February — days or weeks before he became ill. He is not counted in the total because he is a resident of New York. See New York Coronavirus Patient Had Traveled To Miami In February and Coronavirus Outbreak: Tips To Prepare At Home

Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said state officials have relaxed weight restrictions on Florida highways to assist the flow of supplies into the Sunshine State as demand continues to outstrip supply for water, hand sanitizer, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and toilet paper.

"Unlike in a hurricane where we’re not going to be able to resupply right away," Moskowitz said. "Resupply is not an issue. There are no supply chain issues at this time."

DeSantis has said Tuesday's presidential primary in Florida would continue as planned, but polling sites that are located in assisted living facilities would be discouraged from allowing the general public to vote at those locations.

As of Saturday night, there had been a total of 156,102 confirmed cases of the illness and 5,819 deaths around the world, with the majority still in Hubei, China, according to information compiled by Johns Hopkins University. A total of 72,624 people have recovered from the illness. Don’t miss updates about precautions in Florida as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

Here is a county-by-county breakdown of the new coronavirus cases involving Florida residents and people visiting Florida:

Patch Editor Deb Belt and Megan VerHelst, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.