The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Manatee County has continued to creep upward.
County administrator Cheri Coryea told Manatee County Council of Governments officials at a Dec. 1 meeting that the county has failed almost every benchmark — such as achieving a downward trajectory of documented COVID-19 cases — set by the state for reopening.
The number of documented cases in the county peaked Nov. 23 and then remained on an upward trend by the time of the COG meeting, according to Coryea.
Out of 17,450 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county recorded as of Dec. 5, 990 resulted in hospitalizations and 387 people had died.
Coryea added that the three hospitals in the county had seen an uptick in emergency room visits for COVID-19-like illnesses since Nov. 23.
On the bright side, county public safety director Jacob Saur said local hospitals were doing better handling the illness than they did during the summer spike. He said hospitalized COVID-19 patients were leaving earlier and requiring less treatment than previous patients.
The county’s upward trend in confirmed cases is mirrored on the state level.
Florida set a new record-high number of confirmed cases on Nov. 27 with 17,344 after previously peaking at 15,300 on July 12.
In the meantime, county officials are preparing to begin distributing COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they arrive.
County public safety director Jacob Saur said he expected the county to receive COVID-19 vaccines within the “next couple months,” but added it may take a while for vaccines to reach the general public.
Saur said the state first would distribute the vaccine to certain hospitals to be administered for frontline health care workers, before expanding to long-term-care facilities, including retirement homes.
The next step would involve the state distributing the vaccine to local governments to set up vaccination points to cover high-risk individuals, including those over the age of 65.
The last step would involve distributing the vaccine to members of the general public who do not qualify for either of the first steps.
About the Manatee County Council of Governments
Manatee County hosts a Council of Governments, calling a quarterly meeting of representatives from local governments and districts to promote positive relations and discuss items of mutual interest and concern.
The council is made up of representatives from the Anna Maria Island cities, Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach, along with Bradenton, Palmetto, Longboat Key, the School District of Manatee County, the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority and the fire and rescue districts countywide.
Council set to explore format change
Manatee County’s local governments are poised for a larger role in the county’s Council of Governments.
Council members agreed Dec. 1 to explore changing the format of quarterly meetings so each local government can take turns leading the discussion by rotating the council chair position among the local representatives.
County Commissioner Whitmore, acting as council chair, proposed the change to encourage more participation.
She added that many COG meetings wind up canceled because its members often fail to suggest agenda items to discuss.
Whitmore added that they could alphabetically rotate the chair, so Anna Maria’s representative, Mayor Dan Murphy, would lead the next meeting.
Many of the members supported the change.
“I think the cities need to have more of a voice,” Bradenton Councilman Bill Sanders said. “There hasn’t been much participation because I don’t think they feel heard.”
“I want us communicating better than we have recently,” County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said.
The next council of governments meeting — to be led by Murphy — will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto.
— Ryan Paice