Covid-19 Update | March 23 at 9:30 PM

Time for my Corona Virus Update. So first with the data. Still only one case in Bay County. We have had 1 positive test, 33 negative, and 2 pending. At a 3% positive test rate, I’m going to go ahead and call BS on the people claiming there are asymptomatic carriers here. The one positive case is a guy from Texas and the only other cases from the Panhandle are all to the West. So we do not have any objective evidence of community spread in Bay County. There is no reason for otherwise healthy people to be worried to gather with other healthy people they know in our area. If you are immune compromised or over 65, by all means take extra precautions. If you are sick with a cough or fever, stay home and don’t go to work. And definitely stay out of Okaloosa county, they are having cases in their community. The other places in Florida with active community cases are the West Palm to Miami area, the Gainesville area, and the Naples area. Florida hot spots (around 100 cases per million) are still no New York City. The New York area is the absolute worse area in America for the virus at over 1000 cases per million. It’s as bad as Italy, so pray for them and their health care workers. The good news today is that the President made clear he is not going to treat the country as a whole the same way. He and the CDC has smartly suggested we do BOTH: flatten the curve and limit economic damage. They are focusing their strict isolation on hot spots within the state and nation. And using resources at the CDC for contact tracing to prevent future hot spots.

Governor Desantis is doing the same thing so our community can have limited business interruption. The only people needing to isolate indoors are the sick, the elderly and immune compromised; otherwise go outside and enjoy your community. Social distancing is a good idea, especially with people you don’t know. Definitely wash your hands and don’t touch your face. And the big one, don’t travel to a region with a lot of cases. Let’s keep our area safe and corona virus free.