Cold morning will lead into a pleasant afternoon in Southwest FloridaLee County Commissioners to hold public meeting on animal abuse registry
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (FL-R) addresses the combative effort against coronavirus in Tampa along with local officials Sunday, March 8, 2020. Credit: via WINK News. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (FL-R) held a news conference to discuss efforts to combat the coronavirus in Tampa Sunday afternoon. He was joined by Tampa officials during the public announcement. Scott will meet with local leaders to discuss those efforts and make sure they have the resources they need to keep families safe. The senator sent a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the CDC, an FAA administrator and administrators of Santa Rosa County and Lee County health departments to request additional information surrounding the cases of Chinese coronavirus-related deaths in Santa Rosa and Lee counties. Scott and his office have also requested the following information be released publicly: What were the original outbound and inbound flights including locations, dates, airport names, and flight numbers of the affected individuals from Lee and Santa Rosa counties? – If they recently traveled to Florida from abroad or within the United States, do you have records that they were medically screened at a U.S. or international airport? – If so, was that information or samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or the Florida Department of Health and if so, when? – Was this information provided to the local health department? – What has been done to immediately contact the passengers that were on those flights?Were they given the opportunity to be tested? It has been reported that these individuals had underlying health conditions. Is this information accurate, and if so, what were they? When was the CDC notified of the two deaths in Florida? What is the current process for hospitals to notify county health departments of presumptive cases? I am extremely concerned about the #Coronavirus outbreak, and the impact it is having in Florida. I’ve written to @DHS_Wolf, @CDCDirector, FAA Administrator & Santa Rosa & Lee County Health Departments requesting info on the cases of Coronavirus-related deaths in those counties. pic.twitter.com/OvYNLeg43K — Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) March 8, 2020 Where Florida resident coronavirus patients are in state Broward County: 3 patients Charlotte County: 1 patient Hillsborough County: 1 patient Lee County: 1 patient Manatee County: 2 patients Okaloosa County: 1 patient Volusia County: 1 patient Total: 12 patients Florida resident coronavirus patients who have died in state Lee County: 1 patient Santa Rosa County: 1 patient Total: 2 patients The numbers above are current as of 11 p.m. Sunday, March 8. See latest state coronavirus numbers on the Florida Department of health website. IF YOU FEEL SICK: The Florida Department of Health has opened a 24-hour COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.