Islanders must stay vigilant.
The rate of positive cases of the novel coronavirus started a slow climb in Manatee County the week beginning Oct. 11 and continued increasing as of Nov. 5.
On Anna Maria Island, 33 people in Bradenton Beach, 40 people in Holmes Beach and eight people in Anna Maria had tested positive since the first case was reported in the county in March.
Additionally, the first case of COVID-19 at Anna Maria Elementary School in Holmes Beach was reported Nov. 5.
According to metrics provided by the Florida Department of Health, 142 people tested positive Oct. 28, followed by 150 positive cases identified Oct. 31 — the most in one day since July.
As of Nov. 5, 911 people had been hospitalized and 330 county residents had died from complications due to the virus in the county.
Manatee County hospitals reported Nov. 5 that 34 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 4.9% of non-intensive care unit beds available and 4.4% of beds available in the ICU.
The county reported a 7% positivity rate of those tested the week of Nov. 1, up from a 6.5% positivity rate of those tested the week of Oct. 25. This was up from 5.4% the week of Oct. 18 and 4.6% the week of Oct. 11.
— ChrisAnn Allen
Gov. extends state of emergency through holidays
The novel coronavirus will keep Florida in a state of emergency through the holiday season.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Nov. 3 extending executive order 20-52, which established a state of emergency in March. The extension will expire Jan. 2, 2021.
This marks the fourth 60-day extension to the state of emergency, which allows state and local governments to enact emergency orders, such as setting curfews and mask mandates, as well as to make emergency expenditures and collect relief funds from higher governments.
Extending the order allows local governments to continue their own states of emergency for longer than 60 days. Each of Anna Maria Island’s municipalities has had states of emergencies in place for more than 200 days.
If DeSantis had terminated the executive order, all three island cities’ states of emergencies — as well as mask mandates in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach — would have been terminated.
Emergency relief funds are available for those struggling financially due to the pandemic.
Manatee County was accepting applications for Coronavirus Air, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding through its numerous assistance programs as of Nov. 5.
County information outreach manager Nicholas Azzara told The Islander Nov. 6 that the county had distributed $31.5 million in CARES Act funds over phases 1 and 2, but did not detail how much money remained for phase 3.
For more information, go to mymanatee.org.
— Ryan Paice