UPDATE: As of 3/2, the two “presumptively” positive cases have since been confirmed by the CDC as Florida’s first two cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The first two potential cases of Coronavirus have been reported in Florida after two individuals have tested “presumptively” positive for the disease. In response, Governor Ron DeSantis has issued an executive order to declare a public health emergency and engage statewide response for the control of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A global map of live updates on Coronavirus confirmed cases by Johns Hopkins can be found here.
According to the Florida Department of Health, one of the affected is an adult resident of Hillsborough County. The other is an adult resident of Manatee County. Both individuals are currently isolated and being properly cared for.
Tomorrow I will be in Tampa and Miami with Surgeon General Rivkees and other officials to discuss our continued statewide response on #COVID19. https://t.co/sMrWkQlyoi
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 2, 2020
DeSantis tweeted that he will be in Tampa and Miami with Surgeon General Rivkees and other officials on Monday to discuss the continued statewide response on the Coronavirus.
No official statements have been made by the Walt Disney World Resort regarding any potential closures or increased health measures.
We’ll be keeping our eyes on developments here in Florida and in California, as well as in Paris, and Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong regarding the COVID-19 outbreak’s effect on Disney Parks operations and beyond.
Maybe they can be quarantined at Disney’s CORONAdo Springs Resort.
Okay – this is starting to remind me of that scene in Jaws when the Mayor tells that councilman and his family to go get in the water … and they nearly drown from the panic of a shark prank … and then someone really gets eaten by the real shark.
Florida declared a public health emergency. Yet the park remains open?!
This is an excellent leadership opportunity for new CEO Bob Chapek to demonstrate that he will do the right thing to stem the growing spread and to close the park. Over 160,000 people a day visit WDW, and given that there is at least one case (probably *hundreds* more … when FHD actually start using tests that work, and testing more than a handful of people beyond the strict CDC guidelines) from Manatee County that has no obvious vector of exposure, it’s likely already in central Florida being spread in the community.
Hundreds of thousands of kids from colleges, high schools, and elementary schools are about to spend their Spring Break at WDW. This promises to be a major vector to spread the disease all over the east coast through Orlando Int’l Airport and WDW. It would be a reassuring sign to demonstrate that WDW puts the customer (and the health of children) over profits by closing the park now and telling people to stay home. Besides … they’ll all be streaming Disney + at home, anyway, so Disney won’t lose all of its profits ….