Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who will be in Miami today, is calling for public health emergency on coronavirus after two people living in the Tampa Bay area had tested “presumptively positive” for COVID 19. They’re from Manatee and Hillsborough counties. Both have been isolated and are receiving medical care. One patient has no travel history the other has recently traveled to Italy, according the health experts.
Governor DeSantis will hold news conferences in Tampa and Miami today and will issue an executive order calling for a public health emergency.
Florida has 2 presumptive positive #COVID19 cases: one adult resident of Hillsborough County and one adult resident of Manatee County. Both individuals are isolated and being appropriately cared for.
— Florida Dept. Health (@HealthyFla) March 2, 2020
Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever and a general feeling of being unwell.
The public health emergency declaration helps free up government resources to focus on responding to the health situation.
Testing for COVID 19 can now be done in state at three locations, Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville allowing for results in a matter of hours rather than days.
Despite the two cases in Florida, the state maintains that the overall threat to public health “remains low.”
Read the governor’s executive order by clicking here.