COVID – 19

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The Florida Department of Health in Jefferson County (FDOH-Jefferson) confirmed nine more positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, April 15, bringing to 22 the total number of cases.
Of the nine new cases, seven were identified to be in long-term care facilities, and the other two were regular residents.

The seven in long-term facilities consist of a 58-year-old female, a 58-year-old male, a 66-year-old female, a 66-year-old male, a 73-year-year old female, a 77-year-old female, and an 81-year-old female. All seven are presently in isolation and receiving appropriate medical care, according to the FDOH-Jefferson.
The two additional cases consist a 47-year-old female and a 57-year-old male. They also are currently isolated and receiving appropriate medical care at home, the FDOH-Jefferson reports. Of the total 22 cases, 20 are county residents and two are non-Florida residents.

“The FDOH-Jefferson is working with the local nursing homes to proactively test the residents and staff to prevent the spread of coronavirus,” emailed Pam Beck, public information officer. “Nursing home populations are at the highest risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19, because the residents are typically older or disabled adults, often with underlying chronic medical conditions.”

She said public health efforts at this time were focused on both containing the spread of the virus and mitigating its impact in all populations, including those in long-term care facilities.

“Contact tracing is frequently used during such efforts,” Beck said. “Persons identified to be at-risk through the contact tracing process are interviewed, evaluated, and educated on their risk factors and what to do.”
The FDOH-Jefferson continues to emphasize the importance of everyone practicing social distancing and remaining at home other than for essential and necessary activities. It also urges residents to follow the CDC's recommendation and wear cloth face coverings in public settings where the disease may be transmitted from person to person, especially as it's now know that some people don't exhibit symptoms. The FDOH-Jefferson points out that cloth face coverings may be fashioned from household items or common materials at low cost and well serve as an additional, voluntary public health measure.

It urges individuals who are experiencing symptoms or who have come in contact with an infected person to call their healthcare provider or the FDOH-Jefferson at 850-342-0170 to determine if they meet the criteria for testing.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, April 16, Florida had 22,897 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 633 deaths.