DOH reports 140 more COVID-19 cases in Pinellas County: Death toll up to 819

Florida Department of Health reported 140 new cases of COVID-19 in Pinellas County on Oct. 29, upping the total to 25,674. One more resident has died due to the novel coronavirus, upping the death toll to 819.

Since Oct. 26, 544 new cases and three deaths have been reported.

Weekly case counts have been steadily rising. From Oct. 19-25, DOH reported 1,031 new cases and 16 deaths. It was the first week since Aug. 3-9 more than 1,000 cases were reported in one week.

From Oct. 12-18, 938 new cases and 18 deaths were reported. It was the first week since Aug. 10-16 that more than 800 cases were reported. From Oct. 5-11, 652 cases and 19 deaths were reported in Pinellas. It was the first time since the week of Aug. 17-23 that more than 600 new cases were reported in one week.

The county’s first two cases were reported on March 11, and the first death was confirmed on March 23.

Statewide, the cumulative number of cases increased to 794,624 with 16,852 deaths on Oct. 29. Cases in the United States totaled 8,881,087 with 227,897 deaths. Globally, more than 44.68 million cases have been reported with over 1.17 million deaths.

COVID-19 cases in Pinellas included 25,483 residents and 191 non-residents. More cases were in females, 13,702 (54%), to 11,758 in males. Gender was unknown in 23. Ages range from 0-105. Median age was 43. Seventeen percent were Black, and 12% were Hispanic.

About 10% of all cases in the county have been hospitalized since March. DOH reported that 2,520 residents and 27 non-residents had been hospitalized in Pinellas.

Local hospitals had 28% capacity in staffed adult beds (895 of 3,149) on Thursday with 22% capacity (65 of 300) in ICU beds. All hospitals had at least one ICU bed available except St. Anthony’s. According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, as of 10:30 a.m. Oct. 28, 127 beds were occupied by a COVID-19 patient with 37 in ICU and 14 on a ventilator.

Testing in Pinellas

DOH reported that 4.01% of 3,449 test results on Oct. 28 were positive, 3.52% of 3,402 results on Oct. 27, 5.61% of 2,929 on Oct. 26, 4.57% of 2,381 on Oct. 25, 5.81% of 2,384 results on Oct. 24, 4.09% of 4,521 on Oct. 23, 3.11% of 4,490 on Oct. 22, 5.27% of 3,987 on Oct. 21, 7.29% of 1,322 test results on Oct. 20 were positive, 6.12% of 2,424 results on Oct. 19, 4.86% of 1,565 on Oct. 18, 4.89% of 2,351 results on Oct. 17, 6.04% of 3,750 results on Oct. 16, 3.34% of 3,644 results on Oct. 15, 4.05% of 2,866 on Oct. 14, 5.67% of 2,330 on Oct. 13, 6.31% of 2,331 on Oct. 12 and 4.13% of 1,322 results on Oct. 11.

As of Oct. 27, 1,813, or 9.5%, of 19,027 tests of those younger than 18 in Pinellas were positive. Statewide, 67,134, or 12.1% of 555,595 tests were positive.

DOH has not provided information on cumulative testing in Pinellas or statewide since Oct. 25. Tampa Bay Newspapers has sent an email to Emergency Management asking for an explanation, but did not receive a reply.

On Oct. 26, the agency reported that 250,648 tests have been done in Pinellas in since March, and as of Oct. 25, the average rate of positive results was 10%, the same as on Oct. 24, compared to 9.97% on Oct. 23, 10.01% on Oct. 22, 10.03% on Oct. 21, 10.01% on Oct. 20, 9.99% on Oct. 19, 9.97% on Oct. 18, 9.98% on Oct. 17, 9.96% on Oct. 16, 9.92% on Oct. 15-13, 9.89% on Oct. 12-10. Results were inconclusive for 160.

The percent is the number of people who test positive the first time divided by all people tested that day, excluding people who have previously tested positive.

For information on testing, contact your health provider, or call the state DOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-866-779-6121 or the Pinellas County DOH’s hotline at 727-824-6900. Both numbers are available 24/7. For online information, visit https://covid19.pinellascounty.org/testing/.

Cases in Pinellas County schools

Pinellas County Schools reported on Oct. 29 that 10 more students and four employees had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Oct. 28.

One student attended Gibbs High school and seven partial classrooms were affected. One student attended Palm Harbor High School and five partial classrooms were affected. Two students attended Clearwater Adult Education Center and one partial classroom was affected.

One student each was reported from Cypress Woods Elementary School, Clearview Adult Education Center, Osceola Middle School and East Lake High School. No impact to classrooms or buses was reported at any of those schools.

One student attended Pinellas Primary Academy charter school, and one classroom and one partial classroom affected.

Two employees worked at Oakhurst Elementary School and one classroom was affected. One employee worked at Fairmount Park Elementary School and a small group of students was affected. One employee worked at Bay Vista Fundamental Elementary School and no impact was reported.

The school district reported on Oct. 28 that three students and three employees had tested positive.

The school district reported on Oct. 20 that three more students and three more employees had tested positive as of Oct. 27.

One student attended Countryside High School and four partial classrooms were affected. One student attended Oak Grove Middle School and there was no impact. One student attended Largo High School and five partial classrooms were affected.

One employee worked at Walter Pownall Service Center. No impact. One employee worked at Shore Acres Elementary School. No impact. One employee worked at Alfred Adler Charter School and one classroom was affected.

The district reported on Oct. 27 that seven more students had tested positive for COVID-19.

One attended Oak Grove Middle School, and one partial classroom and one partial bus was affected. One student attended St. Petersburg High School and there was no impact.

One student attended Pinellas Park High School, and one classroom, six partial classrooms and varsity football team were affected. One student attended Sexton Elementary School and there was no impact.

One student attended Belleair Elementary School and one classroom and one partial bus was affected. One student attended Safety Harbor Elementary School and one classroom was affected. One student attended Plato Academy charter school in St. Petersburg and there was no impact.

The district reported on Oct. 26 that three more students and two additional employees had tested positive for COVID-19.

Two students attended Countryside High School and seven partial classrooms were affected. One student attended Osceola Middle School. There was no impact to classrooms or buses. Two employees worked at Seminole Elementary School and there was no impact.

The district reported on Oct. 23 that 11 more students and three employees had tested positive for COVID-19.

One student attended Madeira Beach Fundamental and four partial classrooms were affected. One student attended Pinellas Technical College in St. Petersburg and one classroom was affected. One student attended Largo High School and six partial classrooms were affected.

One student attended Seminole High School, and three partial classrooms and one partial bus were affected. One student attended Hollins High School and six partial classrooms were affected. One student attended Oak Grove Middle School and one partial classroom was affected.

One student attended Palm Harbor High School and three partial classrooms were affected. One student attended Brooker Creek Elementary School and no impact was reported. Two students attended Plato Academy charter school in Tarpon Springs and no impact was reported.

One employee and one student were from Northeast High School and a small group of students were affected. One employee worked at Ridgecrest Elementary School and five partial classrooms were affected. One employee worked at Plato Academy charter school in Seminole. No impact was reported.

For more information, visit https://www.pcsb.org/COVID19Cases.

Case counts in local municipalities

DOH provided updated and revised information on the city of residence for cases in Pinellas on Thursday, Oct. 29. St. Petersburg has the most with 10,204 cases, 5,010 are Clearwater residents, 2,607 from Largo, 1,530 from Palm Harbor, 1,312 from Seminole, 1,272 from Pinellas Park, 824 from Tarpon Springs, 671 from Dunedin, 468 from Oldsmar, 361 from Safety Harbor, 187 from Clearwater Beach, 175 from Gulfport, 137 from Kenneth City, 125 from South Pasadena, 89 from Indian Rocks Beach, 60 from Belleair, 51 from Madeira Beach, 32 from Belleair Beach, 30 from Crystal Beach, 22 from Tierra Verde, 21 from North Redington Beach, 20 from St. Pete Beach, 16 from Bay Pines, 15 from Treasure Island, five from Belleair Bluffs, four from Redington Shores and Lealman, three from Indian Shores, Ozona and Redington Beach, one listed as homeless and 221 as missing.

Cases and deaths at long-term care facilities

Since March, 4,216 cases have been reported at long-term care facilities, or 17% of cases in the county. At least 572 of the county’s deaths were residents or staff at one of the county’s long-term care facilities. Pinellas is No. 3 in the state with reporting 9% of deaths at these facilities. Dade County is No. 1 with 844 deaths, or 13%, and Palm Beach County is No. 2 with 714 deaths, or 11%.

According to a weekly report from DOH, as of Oct. 23, 31 deaths had been reported by Countryside Rehab and Healthcare Center; 26 deaths by Freedom Square Seminole Nursing Pavilion, including one staff member; 26 by Bon Secours Maria Manor Nursing Care Center; 25 by Jacaranda Manor; 25 by Gulf Shore Care Center; 24 by Peninsula Care and Rehabilitation Center; 20 by Oak Manor Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center; 19 by Apollo Health and Rehabilitation Center; 15 by Boca Ciega Center; 13 by Abbey Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

Eleven deaths were reported by Mark Village, Walton Place, Bay Pointe Nursing Pavilion in St. Petersburg, Bardmoor Oaks Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, Inn at the Fountains in St. Petersburg, Lexington Health and Rehabilitation Center and Gulfport Rehabilitation Center.

Ten deaths were reported by The Oaks of Clearwater. Nine were reported by Tierra Pines Nursing Home in Largo, West Bay of Tampa, The Care Center at Pinellas Park and Freedom Square Rehabilitation & Nursing.

Eight deaths were reported by Carrington Place of St. Pete. Seven were reported by St. Petersburg Nursing and Rehabilitation, Arbor Oaks of Tyrone, Kensington Gardens Rehab and Nursing Center, Highland Pines Rehabilitation Center and Grand Villa of Largo.

Six were reported by Health and Rehabilitation Centre at Dolphins View, Consulate Health Care of St. Petersburg, Regal Palms, Consulate Health Care of Safety Harbor, Patrick Manor, Stratford Court of Palm Harbor and Palm Garden of Largo.

Five deaths were reported by Alpine Health and Rehabilitation, Seasons Largo, Princeton Village of Largo and Eagle Lake Nursing and Rehab Center.

Four deaths were reported by Marion and Bernard L. Samson Center, Evergreen Manor Retirement Home in Safety Harbor, Angel Care Assisted Living Facility in St. Petersburg, Gateway Care Center of Pinellas, Harbourwood Care Center in Clearwater, North Rehabilitation Center, Seasons Belleair Memory Care in Clearwater, South Heritage Health & Rehabilitation Center, Egret Cove Center in St. Petersburg and Grand Villa of St. Petersburg.

Three were reported by Baytree Lakeside in Kenneth City, Palm Garden of Pinellas, Palm Garden of Clearwater, Masonic Home of Florida in St. Petersburg, Country Inn, Sabal Palms Health Care Center in Largo, Alhambra Health and Rehabilitation Center in St. Petersburg, Belleair Health Center, Harborchase of Palm Harbor, East Bay Rehabilitation Center in Clearwater, Lakeside Oaks Care Center and Westminster Suncoast.

Two deaths were reported by Cross Terrace Rehabilitation Center, Brentwood Senior Living at St. Pete, Bay Tree Center in Palm Harbor, Grand Villa of Pinellas Park, The Inn at Freedom Square, The Inn at Lake Seminole Square, Royal Oaks Manor, Shore Acres Care Center in St. Petersburg, Sunset Point, PARC of St. Petersburg, Heron House of Largo, The Villas at Lakeside Oaks, Pinellas Point Nursing and Rehab Center in St. Petersburg.

One death was reported by Westminster Palms in St. Petersburg, Wrights Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Seminole, The Vineyard Inn in Largo, Union House in Clearwater, Sylvan Health Center in Clearwater, Sylvan Terrace in Pinellas Park, Seabreeze Siesta Manor in Clearwater, Grand Villa of Clearwater, Grand Villa of Dunedin, Bayou Gardens Dunedin, Bon Secours Place at St. Petersburg, Golfview Healthcare Center in St. Petersburg, Heather Haven in Dunedin, Heather Haven II in Dunedin, Magnolia Gardens Assisted Living in Pinellas Park, The Barrington, Addington Place of East Lake, Addington Place of College Harbor in St. Petersburg, Clearwater Center, Bristol Court Assisted Living Community in St. Petersburg, Glen Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center in Clearwater, Laurellwood Care Center in St. Petersburg, Morton Plant Rehabilitation Center and Bayside Care Center in St. Petersburg.

COVID-19 deaths countywide

DOH reported one more COVID-19 related death on Oct. 29, upping the death toll to 819.

In Pinellas, one death has been reported in the 15-24 age group, three deaths in the 25-34 age group, six in the 35-44 group (1%), 23 in 45-54 (3%), 66 in 55-64 (8%), 161 in 65-74 (20%), 252 in 75-84 (31%) and 307 (37%) in ages 85 and up.

DOH reported two more COVID-19 related deaths on Oct. 27. The state confirmed the deaths of two woman ages 89 and 73 that day. DOH also confirmed the death of a 93-year-old woman on Oct. 28, but the death count remained the same.

DOH reported one COVID-19 related death on Oct. 24. Details were released for five, three women ages 91, 81 and 52 and two men ages 77 and 68.

DOH reported six deaths on Oct 23, including three women ages 97, 85 and 60, and three men ages 76, 72 and 58. DOH reported the deaths of two women, ages 79 and 78, on Oct. 22.

DOH reported two COVID-19 related deaths on Oct. 21, including an 85-year-old woman and a 79-year-old man. DOH reported two more deaths on Oct. 20. Deaths confirmed that day by DOH included three men ages 91, 71 and 69.

DOH reported one more death due to COVID-19 on Oct. 19 and two deaths on Oct. 18 no further details were available. DOH reported that five more residents had died due to COVID-19 on Oct. 17, including two women ages 77 and 51 and three men ages 95, 89 and 84.

DOH reported on Oct. 16 that a 67-year-old man had died due to COVID-19. DOH reported four deaths on Oct. 15. All were women, ages 90, 87, 76 and 65. DOH added one more death to the county’s total on Oct. 14. Details were released on two: an 83-year-old woman and a 74-year-old woman.

DOH reported four more COVID-19 related deaths on Oct. 13, including two women ages 90 and 88, and two men ages 71 and 68. DOH reported the death of a 74-year-old woman on Oct. 12.

DOH reported two more COVID-19 related deaths on Oct. 11. However, no details of those deaths were included in the daily line list report. Comparing the summary report on cases and deaths, it appears one of the new deaths was in the 45-54 age group and one in the age 85 and up. No information on gender was available.

DOH reported four deaths in Pinellas on Oct. 9, including two women ages 85 and 64, and two men ages 59 and 53. DOH reported on Oct. 8 that two women age 95 and 90 had died due to COVID-19.

DOH reported six deaths on Oct. 7, including five women ages 92, 84, 68, 68 and 56, and one man age 79. DOH reported four deaths on Oct. 6, but the death toll rose by only two to total 768. However, details were released on four, including two women ages 98 and 89, and two men ages 97 and 88.

DOH reported three more COVID-19 related deaths on Oct. 5, including one woman age 82 and two men ages 74 and 63. No new deaths were reported on Oct. 4. DOH reported four deaths in Pinellas on Oct. 3, and provided details on seven, including one women age 94, and six men ages 92, 86, 75, 75, 65 and 64.

DOH reported four deaths in Pinellas on Oct. 2, including three women ages 100, 78 and 76, and one man age 90. DOH reported two deaths on Oct. 1 and released details on three, including one woman age 90, and two men ages 86 and 84.

Local state of emergency, face mask order

Pinellas County Commission voted Oct. 20 to extend the state of emergency through Friday, Oct. 30.

The ordinance requiring that facial covering be worn in indoor places also remains in effect.

Public health officials are closely monitoring the continued increase in the seven-day rolling averages for new COVID-19 cases and percentage of positive tests.

“We must all do our part out here as residents,” said Florida Department of Health in Pinellas Director Dr. Ulyee Choe. “Given the increase in cases, now is not the time to let up on preventative measures like social distancing and wearing facial coverings.”

The countywide ordinance requires that face masks be worn in indoor public places when social distancing is not possible also remains in effect. The ordinance requires that retail employees wear face coverings unless in an area that is not open to the public with social distancing measures in place.

Restaurants and staff at bars can only serve people who are seated. Social distancing of 6 feet must be maintained. Staff also must wear face masks when preparing or serving food or beverages indoors and outdoors. Customers do not have to wear masks while eating or drinking. No congregating at the bars or in any area is allowed.

The ordinance includes several exemptions for those that might not be able to wear a face masks; however, private businesses do not have to allow for those exemptions.

For more information on the county’s response to the coronavirus, visit https://covid19.pinellascounty.org/.

Statewide cases top 790,000 with 16,852 deaths

The number of confirmed cases in Florida residents was up to 784,331 on Thursday. Another 10,293 cases were reported in non-residents, bringing the total 794,624 — 4,198 more than reported the day before.

The numbers are cumulative going back to March 4. DOH has not provided information on how many people have recovered.

The number of deaths in Florida residents increased to 16,648 deaths, which is 77 more than the number reported on Wednesday. DOH also reported that 204 non-residents have died, bringing the state’s death toll to 16,852.

DOH reports that 49,011 residents have been hospitalized statewide, which is 289 more than the number reported on Wednesday. No information was available about non-residents.

Testing statewide

DOH reported that 4.90% of 81,195 test results on Oct. 28 were positive, 3.52% of 3,402 results on Oct. 27, 6.31% of 63,647 on Oct. 26, 5.94% of 53,199 on Oct. 25, 4.71% of 47,879 on Oct. 24, 3.68% of 116,187 on Oct. 23, 4.0% of 89,381 results on Oct. 22, 5.62% of 92,135 on Oct. 21, 6.74% of 29,890 on Oct. 20, 6.17% of 54,932 on Oct. 19, 4.86% of 34,537 on Oct. 18, 4.68% of 50,887 on Oct. 17, 5.21% of 73,219 on Oct. 16, 4.28% of 74,689 on Oct. 15, 5.20% of 60,681 on Oct. 14, 5.42% of 50,106 on Oct. 13, 4.99% of 51,540 on Oct. 12 and 4.28% of 35,562 results on Oct. 11.

DOH has not provided information on cumulative testing in Pinellas or statewide since Oct. 25.

On Oct. 26, the agency reported results of 5,992,068 cumulative tests done statewide on residents and nonresidents with 13.05% coming back as positive as of Oct. 25, compared to 13.06% on Oct. 24-23, 13.14% on Oct. 22, 13.18% on Oct. 21-20 13.17% on Oct. 19-18, 13.18% on Oct. 17-16, 13.17% on Oct. 15-14, 13.19% on Oct. 13-12, 13.20% on Oct. 11, 13.22% on Oct. 10, N/A on Oct. 9, 13.19% on Oct. 8, 13.21% on Oct. 7, 13.22% on Oct. 6, 13.24% on Oct. 5, 13.25% on Oct. 4, 13.26% on Oct. 3, 13.27% on Oct. 2 and 13.28% on Oct. 1. Results were inconclusive for 7,319.

National cases up to 8.88 million with 227,897 deaths

According to information from Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, posted at 1 p.m. Thursday, cases of the coronavirus reported in the United States were up to 8,881,087 with 227,897 deaths compared to 8,800,316 with 226,982 deaths at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The number of global cases increased to 44,684,011 with 1,176,328 deaths compared to 44,159,482 with 1,169,562 deaths on Wednesday.

For more information on the coronavirus, visit www.floridahealth.gov/index.html.

Suzette Porter is TBN’s Pinellas County editor. She can be reached at sporter@tbnweekly.com.

Note: All numbers are provisional and subject to change.