Two major events in South Florida, Ultra Music Festival and Calle Ocho, were canceled amid coronavirus concerns. NBC 6’s Steve Litz reports.
Two people in Florida who tested "presumptive positive" for the novel coronavirus have died and two new cases in Broward County were announced late Friday by the Florida Department of Health.
The three new "presumptive positive" cases are two people in Broward County who are in isolation and one person in Lee County, who officials said is deceased.
One previously announced case, a person in Santa Rosa County, died following an international trip, the department said in a news release. The person in Lee County, who was in their 70s, was tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 and also died following an international trip.
Further details on the deceased individuals and where they traveled were not available.
The new cases in Broward County involve a 75-year-old man and a 65-year-old man, the department said. The two men are isolated and will remain in isolation, officials said.
Broward County officials spoke in a news conference earlier Friday and confirmed they were monitoring people for the coronavirus but assured the risk of the virus in the county remains low.
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A "presumptive positive" case is when a state health lab has a positive case without confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked state lawmakers for $25 million for health officials to use immediately in the state's response to coronavirus.
DeSantis said he expects Florida to receive at least $27 million from the federal government, along with an extra $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to immediately cover costs like lab equipment and staffing.
The risk to the general public remains low in Florida, DeSantis said. Those most at risk include the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions. Health officials have put out guidance to assisted living facilities to restrict visitors who might be infected.
Meanwhile, the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed to 17, with the majority of victims in Washington state, while the number of infections swelled to over 300, scattered across about half the states. Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska reported their first cases.
For more information on COVID-19 in Florida, visit floridahealth.gov/covid-19.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
