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A 13-year-old has become the latest COVID-19 patient.
By Sarah Cavacini and Wayne Smith
Palatka Daily News
scavacini@palatkadailynews.com
wsmith@palatkadailynews.com
A 13-year-old Palatka girl was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 Friday evening, health officials said, making her the youngest coronavirus patient in Putnam County.
The girl’s diagnosis is the 29th case in the county and comes six days after a 14-year-old Palatka boy was confirmed to have the virus.
“It is critical for Floridians to fully understand and follow important healthy activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mary Garcia, administrator for the Florida Department of Health in Putnam County, said in a statement.
Palatka Mayor Terrill Hill said he was confident in the Department of Health, locally and statewide, and the governor’s stay-at-home order in leading the county through the pandemic.
“We’ve got to make sure we continue to put out a single message to our citizens – stay at home unless there are essential activities you have to take care of,” Hill said. “The more people stay at home, the sooner we will get back to some sense of normalcy.”
According to floridadisaster.org, 699 people in the county have been tested, and of those, 670 tested negative.
During a press conference Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said more than 160,000 people have been tested in Florida. One in every 140 Floridians was tested for coronavirus, and findings show people may have the virus without showing symptoms, he said.
Jared Moskowitz, director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, said the stay-at-home orders and social distancing appear to be working, but now is not the time to stop.
“While things are looking better, they’re looking better because we’re doing all the measures that the governor has instituted,” Moskowitz said. “Let’s continue to do it. Let’s get to the other side of it.”
DeSantis also debated reopening schools during an education meeting Thursday but said he would only let schools reopen if the situation was safe. He said coronavirus has not affected the younger population.
“If we get to the point where people think we are on the other side of this, and we could get kids back in (school) even for a couple of weeks, we think there would be value in that. It’s a return to normalcy a little bit,” the governor said. “If it is safe, we want kids to be in school. I think most parents want that.”
Putnam County officials are still encouraging residents to maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet, avoid touching their eyes, mouth and nose because dirty hands could transfer the virus to a person’s immune system, and wash their hands for 20 or more seconds.
By Friday evening, the total number of cases in Florida reached 17,698 with 419 deaths in Florida. There has been only one death in Putnam County because of coronavirus.
“We must continue to practice hand health and social distancing and obedience. The governor has issued an order and we’ve seen the state’s numbers go down on Florida’s projection just based on a week’s compliance,” Hill said. “But there are still folks in our community who think it’s vacation time and people having large gatherings. If we just sacrifice for a little bit, the sooner we get back to opening this country up.”