3 More FL Coronavirus Cases; Nursing Home Visitors Restricted

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Three more new coronavirus cases were reported in Florida Wednesday hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order restricting visitors to nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult family care homes, long-term care facilities and adult group homes.

"These are important efforts to mitigate the risk to our most vulnerable population to COVID-19 which is our elderly population and particularly those who have serious underlying medical conditions," DeSantis said of the restrictions.

The new cases included the first in Miami-Dade County, where a 56-year-old man is isolated, according to state health officials. His case is travel related.

Reacting to the news, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez declared a state of emergency for the county, which includes Miami and Miami Beach.

"That individual is at home, which to me appears to be a good sign," Gimenez told reporters after returning from a trip to Washington, D.C. "We will be taking much more aggressive action."

A fifth person also tested positive in Broward County. Three of the other four Broward cases were linked to a company that provides services at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades.

"This individual attended an Emergency Medical Services conference in Tampa, Florida," state health officials said of the Broward case. The EMS conference was held from March 4-6. "The epidemiological investigation is underway."

The last new case involves a 63-year old man from New York who tested positive for the illness in St. Johns County.

"He is isolated and will continue to remain isolated until cleared by public health officials," state officials said. "This is a travel-related case where this individual traveled from New York to attend Daytona Bike Week in Daytona, Florida."

The New York Department of Health is leading the epidemiological investigation for the New York man. Bike Week began on March 6 and continues through March 15.

The governor ordered all nursing homes and related facilities to temporarily ban any person infected with COVID-19 who has not had two consecutive negative test results at least one day apart; any person with signs or symptoms of a respiratory infection; any person who may have been in close contact with an infected person with COVID-19 who has not tested negative for 14 days from the date of contact; any person who has traveled outside the United States within the previous 14 days; any person who traveled on a cruise ship within the previous 14 days; anyone who has been in a community with community spread within the previous 14 days and anyone who lives in a community with confirmed community spread.

The governor said next week'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.

"Allow the residents to vote there, but maybe the general public should ... be directed to go to a different polling locations," he said.

The governor said state universities have directed returning students from spring break to wait two weeks before returning to class. Schools that have already returned from spring break were instructed to encourage returning students to stay home for at least two weeks.

"I think those are prudent steps," the governor said. "I think because you have the ability to do distance learning, they'll be able to do that and not miss a huge bead. They're going to continue monitoring the situation and then make the best decisions that they can."

As of Wedneday night, there had been a total of 126,135 confirmed cases of the illness and 4,630deaths around the world, with the vast majority in Hubei, China, according to information compiled by Johns Hopkins University. A total of 68,216people 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.

The governor said earlier that 10 of the state's total cases have been linked to a Nile River cruise that took place in February or March.

"Of all the positive cases in Florida, 10 of the positive cases have stemmed from this travel on the Nile River," the Governor said. "Once we had the individual who passed away in Santa Rosa, his travel had been to the Nile River and it was somewhat of an isolated case of travel. Then we had someone else test positive who also had been there. Our health department talked to CDC. CDC noticed there had been other cases."

State health officials are asking Florida residents to self-isolate if they took a Nile River cruise between Feb. 4 through Feb. 18 from the date of their return.

The new cases bring the total number of Florida residents with the illness to 28 plus one person from California, one from Georgia and one from New York, according to the Florida Department of Health. See county-by-county breakdown at the bottom of this story.

DeSantis said there has not been any community spread in Florida. He declared a state of emergency Monday that freed up additional resources to respond to the virus and allow physicians from other states to practice in Florida for the duration of the order. See Florida Governor Declares State Of Emergency Over Coronavirus

"With a community spread situation you have three or four people who never traveled, wasn't in contact with anyone that traveled," the governor said. "All of the cases except one so far have had a link to either someone who has been positive or has been traveling ... or who themselves have traveled."

Florida's first two deaths from the new coronavirus were reported Friday involving elderly patients in Santa Rosa County and Lee County, both of whom suffered from serious underlying conditions. See: Interactive Map: Latest US Coronavirus Cases

Five of Florida's confirmed cases involve people who traveled to China and were placed in quarantine by federal officials in other states.

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

While spring break has already sprung in parts of Florida, the spread of the new coronavirus has taken its toll on this year's annual rite of passage with a greater number of cancellations and fewer breakers thus far this season to fill the hotels, restaurants and nightclubs. See New Coronavirus Hits Florida's Spring Break

COVID-19 can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth, including when someone coughs or sneezes. These droplets may land on objects and surfaces. Other people may contract the virus by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.

Health officials said there haven't been any asymptomatic transmissions of the illness, meaning that people can only acquire COVID-19 from somebody who has the illness. Symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days following exposure. Most people recover from COVID-19 without special treatment. The elderly and those with underlying medical problems such as high blood pressure, heart problems, obesity and diabetes are more likely to develop serious illness, the health department said.

Public Health Guidance On Virus Prevention:

• Do not go to an emergency room unless absolutely essential. Those with symptoms including a cough, fever, or other respiratory issues are advised to contact their regular doctor first.
• If you are sick, stay home.
• Commit to excellent personal hygiene, including regular hand-washing, and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

Monitor the latest information on COVID-19 in Florida and across the United States:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Florida Department of Health

What is the new coronavirus?

The symptoms of the new coronavirus are similar to seasonal influenza, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Both are infectious respiratory illnesses, but they're caused by different viruses.

Both cause fever, cough, body aches and fatigue, and both can result in pneumonia. Both illnesses can sometimes cause vomiting and diarrhea and can be spread from person to person by sneezing, coughing or talking.

Common good-health practices such as frequent hand-washing, covering coughs and staying home from work or school if sick, can help control both illnesses.

Neither respond to antibiotic treatment, but both may be treated by addressing symptoms, such as reducing fever.

There are some distinct differences between COVID-19 and the Flu: Flu is caused by several types of viruses, while COVID-19 is caused by the new coronavirus, which is also called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2.

Johns Hopkins said there is some evidence COVID-19 could be airborne "meaning that tiny droplets remaining in the air could cause disease in others even after the ill person is no longer near."

There is no vaccine to protect against the new coronavirus as there is against influenza. Scientists around the world are racing to find a vaccine for the new coronavirus, although none currently exists.

A company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has shipped vials of its novel coronavirus vaccine to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease for further research.

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.