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8 more coronavirus cases identified in Florida

22 residents have now tested positive
Posted at 7:07 AM, Mar 10, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-12 00:47:35-04

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health late Tuesday night announced eight new positive cases of coronavirus in Florida, bringing the total to 28 linked to the state.

The death count has remained at two in Florida since Friday as the number of confirmed fatalities in the United States rose to 30 and surpassed 1,000 cases, according to a CNN tally. Worldwide, the fatalities passed 4,200 with nearly 120,000 cases.

The new Florida cases include residents from 46 to 73 years of age: three in Pinellas County, two in Collier County, one in Pasco County, one in Nassau County and a 68-year-old Georgia resident currently in Alachua County. Those were the first cases confirmed in those counties.

All of the cases are travel related and the patients are in isolation.

The Collier County cases are two women, 64 and 68. The Pinellas ones are two men, 67 and 64. In Nassau County it's a 68-year-old male, and in Pasco County the case is a 46-year-old male.

Earlier Tuesday, the department announced a 69-year-old woman in Broward County has tested positive for the virus.

She is the third positive case of the virus associated with Port Everglades. She is also the third employee of Metro Cruise Services to become infected. The company greets cruise ship passengers.

RELATED: Cruise ship kept from docking in South Florida as employees tested for coronavirus

The Florida victims who died were a patient in Santa Rosa County, Florida's Panhandle, after an international trip and a person in Lee County in his or her 70s who also traveled abroad.

Among the 22 state residents confirmed with coronavirus, all but four are travel related.

The youngest patient is a 29-year-old female in Hillsborough County and the oldest is an 81-year-old woman in Manatee County.

The Florida Department of Health recommends all individuals experiencing symptoms, who have recently traveled through Port Everglades, to immediately contact their County Health Department or health care provider and self-isolate for 14 Days.

RELATED: Coronavirus hotline now open in Florida

Get the latest information about coronavirus in Florida by clicking here.

The number of cases and deaths continue to drop in Mainland China, where the outbreak started. On Wednesday morning, 24 new cases and 22 deaths were announced compared with daily cases in the thousands and deaths in the hundreds at its peak. Since the virus was identified in early January, there have been more than 3,000 deaths and 80,000 cases in mainland China.