Coronavirus update: Florida cases top 500. Broward worst in state.

Hi, this is Chuck Strouse of the Caplin News and it’s Friday, March 20.

Coronavirus is again surging both in the state of Florida, where the Department of Health is tracking 520 cases, and locally. Broward County has the most cases, with 124, while Miami-Dade is second with 113, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported.

About 100 new cases turned up in the state since Thursday, the Orlando Sentinel reported. 

In Florida, 10 people suffering from COVID-19 have died. Two of those deaths were linked to the Atria Willow Wood Senior Living and Memory Care facility off Commercial Boulevard in Broward. Both were men. The first was a 77-year-old named Richard Curren. On Thursday night, the family of another man — a 93-year-old — said they had been contacted by the state and told he had contracted the disease. Other elderly folks at the facility have been taken by workers in hazmat gear for testing. A police officer who reported to Atria is now self-quarantining, WSVN Channel 7 reported.

Also on Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered all gyms and dine-in restaurants closed. He allowed food delivery and lifted a restriction that had prohibited takeout liquor sales with food.

On the Caplin News: Mickaella Mori writes how college seniors won’t be able to attend their own graduation ceremonies since events have been canceled due to the coronavirus.

 

Chuck Strouse is digital director of the Caplin News.