Daily Stats (Updated 4/22/2020 at 5:30 pm)
As of today, Lee Health has:
- 70 COVID-19 patients isolated in our hospitals
- Submitted 8,494 specimens for testing
- Discharged 153 patients
- 165 employees quarantined; 30 employees exposed at work and positive with COVID-19
- Click here for graphs showing a running total of specimens collected for testing and positive cases hospitalized.
Today’s News
A Message from Dr. Larry Antonucci
There is no doubt that reopening, resuming services, returning to “normal” and recovery is top-of-mind for a lot of us right now. As Lee County’s major health care destination, Lee Health has the privilege, honor and responsibility of caring for our community. This duty and commitment require us to strike the delicate balance of resuming services while safeguarding against a second wave of cases that could strain our facilities. The decisions on how to proceed are important and require collaboration with local government, so leaders from Lee Health have engaged in conversations with local leaders and supplied data to help inform the decision-making process. While we all determine the next steps, one thing we know is that reopening will not be a return to life as we knew it before COVID-19. We will need to proceed cautiously into a new normal with continued masking, social distancing and hand hygiene habits in place to protect ourselves and each other.
Be a Lifesaver: Donate Blood this Friday, April 24
You can help us ensure a healthy blood supply in our community. Join us 2-6 p.m., Friday, April 24, at 9924 Gulf Coast Main Street (at Gulf Coast Town Center), and donate blood. We conduct blood drives using appropriate infection control mechanisms to assure the safety of the products, donors and staff. As a blood donor, you have the potential to help multiple people heal from surgeries, diseases or traumatic injuries. All blood collected by Lee Health stays here to care for people in our community.
Thank you, St. Francis Xavier Catholic School
Students from St. Francis Xavier Catholic School made cards for our health care heroes filled with uplifting messages like “Keep Calm and Stay Strong” and “Never Give Up.” Take a look at the colorful, handmade cards by these students, here.
~27,791 positive cases in Florida residents and 785 positive cases in non-Florida residents~
TALLAHASSEE — To keep Florida residents and visitors safe, informed and aware about the status of the virus, the Florida Department of Health has launched a COVID-19 dashboard that is updated twice daily. Today, as of 6 p.m., there are 28,576 total** Florida cases.
There are currently 324 long-term care facilities with positive cases of COVID-19. The Florida Department of Health has published the list here. The twice daily COVID-19 report also includes information by county about deaths related to staff or residents in long-term care facilities. Of the 2,333 cases of residents or staff in long-term care facilities, 248 have died.
While Florida’s testing has increased over the past week, the percent of those testing positive for COVID-19 overall is 10 percent. Of the 14,165 tests performed on April 21, there were 1,384 positive results, or 10 percent.
Thirty-four people have died who tested positive for COVID-19 Broward, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Dade, Hillsborough, Lee, Leon, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Seminole and Sumter counties.
New Florida cases include:
- 267 additional positive COVID-19 cases (248 Florida residents and 19 non-Florida residents) reported to the Florida Department of Health.
- There are currently 27,791 positive cases in Florida residents and 785 positive cases in non-Florida residents.
Florida recently partnered with private laboratories around the state to expand COVID-19 laboratory testing capacity. This partnership will increase the number of tests conducted each day and ensure Floridians receive the critical health information they need in a timely manner.
Expansion to private laboratories changes the COVID-19 testing landscape in Florida. Private laboratories are running tests as they receive swab samples from practitioners. Testing and reporting times vary among commercial and DOH laboratories. Demographic information may be updated during investigations. These twice daily reports reflect the state’s efforts to accurately and transparently share information.
World Health Organization Update
SITUATION IN NUMBERS total (new) cases in last 24 hours
(last updated 10:00 AM CET 4/22/2020)
169 006 deaths (6058)
5793 deaths (108)
109 952 deaths (3618)
1427 deaths (86)
6326 deaths (141)
44 775 deaths (2089)
720 deaths (16)
- WHO is deeply saddened at the death of a member of personnel during a
security incident in Rakhine district of Myanmar, who was transporting COVID19 surveillance samples in support of the Ministry of Health and Sports. WHO
condemns targeting of health workers involved in the COVID-19 response. More
information is available here. - As of 22 April, Japan changed the method of reporting deaths, which now
includes both the number of (i) deceased cases with complete data matching and
verification; and (ii) deceased cases whose data matching and verification are in
progress. The notable increase in the number of deaths reported from Japan can
be attributed to this change. - A WHO mission to Belarus has recommended the introduction of communitywide steps to increase physical distancing. More information is available here.
- OpenWHO has launched a new online course on Standard precautions: Hand
hygiene. The module has been prepared to help summarize the WHO guidelines
on hand hygiene, associated tools and ideas for effective implementation. To
date, there has been more than 1.5 million enrolments in the platform’s
courses to support the COVID-19 response. - The WHO Information Network for Epidemics (EPI-WIN) was launched at the
beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, specifically for infodemic management.
For updates and more information, see the ‘Subject in Focus’ below. - WHO issued guidance on Safe Ramadan practices in the context of COVID-19,
which is available in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish. For details,
see the ‘Subject in Focus’ below.