By Otto Rodríguez
MiamiDadeHealth.com
A woman in her 20s who flew into Tampa Bay International Airport from Italy is one of the two confirmed cases reported in Florida recently, according to a local TV station.
Those two cases prompted Florida to declare a public health emergency announced last weekend by Governor, Ron DeSantis.
At a press conference on Monday, Scott Rivkees, Florida’s top public health official said that the woman was being isolated from the general public.
A spokeswoman from the airport said she did not know more details about when the traveler flew into Tampa Bay Area and what terminal.
A statement released to the press says the airport has taken steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including “the cleaning and sanitation of high-touch areas.”
The Florida Department of Health has set up a website (www.FloridaHealth.gov/COVID-19) with information and guidance regarding COVID-19 in Florida, and a hotline (1-866-779-6121) that works only Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
MiamiDadeHealth.com reached out Monday to the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade to obtain information about what specific measures the local health department is putting in place to cope with a possible outbreak in South Florida, and was instead directed to the State’s website and the hotline.
Although the World Health Organization has declined to describe COVID-19 as a pandemic, it has spread to every continent but Antarctica and some infectious disease experts say that a significant fraction of the human population could become exposed to it in the coming year or two.
Globally, the virus has affected tens of thousands of people and has hit hard particularly China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy. All over the world, around 3,000 deaths have been reported.
