Health Department confirms 67-year-old man has COVID-19
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Corky Bell's is doing takeout only after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an order to close doors to dine-in customers. -
A sign at Musselwhite's informs customers it's still open for takeout orders.
By Sarah Cavacini, Emanuel Griffin and Wayne Smith
The first positive case of COVID-19 in Putnam County was reported Friday night.
A 67-year-old man is the first person ill with the coronavirus locally, according to the state Department of Health in Putnam County.
Mary Garcia, administrator for the health department in the county, confirmed the positive case in an email at 9:20 p.m.
“The Florida Department of Health in Putnam County is now conducting its contact investigation and working on identifying and notifying individuals who will need to self-monitor for symptoms for a 14-day period,” Garcia said in a statement. “Contact investigations are a critical way for staff epidemiologists to track and prevent the spread of disease.
“DOH-Putnam has been monitoring COVID-19 since January and been in contact with Putnam County Emergency Management and medical providers to prepare response activities in the event we were to see cases in Putnam.”
As of Friday evening, 37 Putnam County residents had been tested, with 26 results coming back negative and the remainder pending.
Statewide, the number of positive cases of coronavirus grew to 563.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Friday afternoon mandating all restaurants to stop on-site food consumption, but allowed takeout services and delivery to continue.
The order also required gyms and fitness centers to close because these facilities attract groups of more than 10 people.
DeSantis signed another executive order Friday requiring all medical offices to stop providing any “medically unnecessary, non-urgent or non-emergency procedure or surgery which, if delayed, does not place a patient’s immediate health, safety, or well-being at risk, or will, if delayed, not contribute to the worsening of a serious or life-threatening medical condition.”
Palatka Mayor Terrill Hill encouraged local businesses to visit floridadisasterloans.org to learn about relief they can receive from the state.
“We just continually encourage our citizens to stay home as much as they can,” Hill said. “Because there (were) no cases in Putnam County, some people are not taking this seriously.”
Also Friday, state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried asked DeSantis to implement a statewide “stay-at-home” order in response to increasing COVID-19 cases in Florida.