MIAMI, Florida – On March 2, the first two cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Florida by state officials, sending panic and worry across the state.
At a press conference yesterday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gave details on the conditions of the two confirmed patients, who are both in isolation.
The first patient is a man in his 60s who is hospitalized in Manatee County, the governor said. That individual has pneumonia and is in stable condition at a hospital. He did not travel to any areas impacted, so it’s unclear how he contact the virus. He’s currently in isolation.
The second patient is a woman in her 20s in Hillsborough County. That individual recently returned from northern Italy, where the virus is spreading at a rapid rate. She is in stable condition and remains in isolation at home.
While the female patient is likely to have caught the virus while in Italy, the transmission of the virus to the male patient has been unexplained. The puzzling transmission of the virus has left local health officials worried that there could be more people in the state with the virus, undetected.
While the anxiety about the virus grows in local communities, Governor DeSantis assured that there was no need to panic. “Despite these cases, the threat to the overall public remains low. With that said, we do anticipate that more will test positive and we have taken additional action to help contain the virus’s spread,” he said.
DeSantis said a total of 23 people in the state have been tested. The state is currently monitoring 185 cases, and almost 800 have been monitored in total.
As of March 3, 6 people have died in the United States from coronavirus, while the number of global deaths has risen pass 3000.
