As Florida’s coronavirus cases surged past 9,000 with 144 deaths, Gov. Ron DeSantis clarified his stay-at-home order that went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday. Worldwide, the death toll passed 53,000 while the total confirmed cases top 1 million.
“The goal is to reduce contacts with people outside the home, so it’s less important of what you do than how you do it,” DeSantis said in a Thursday afternoon press conference. “If you want to go for a 10 mile run by yourself, more power to you.”
Meanwhile, Disney said it will begin to furlough employees starting April 16.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on our world with untold suffering and loss and has required all of us to make sacrifices. Over the last few weeks, mandatory decrees from government officials have shut down a majority of our businesses,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “However, with no clear indication of when we can restart our businesses, we’re forced to make the difficult decision to take the next step and furlough employees whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time.”
The Central Florida region now has over 1,200 infected patients and 16 deaths, including four announced Thursday evening. Two were in Osceola County — two men aged 55 and 91 — along with two Sumter County deaths, an 84-year-old man and 68-year-old woman.
Orange County’s number of cases passed 500 Thursday morning. Hospitalizations and positive tests are rising, and Mayor Jerry Demings unveiled a map that shows which ZIP codes have the most cases within the county. Raul Pino, local state health officer, said more younger people are becoming infected in Orange County and the rate of positive tests has jumped from less than 7 percent to about 10 percent.
Statewide, there are 9,008 cases with 144 deaths. Nationwide, with over 226,000 cases, the U.S. death toll surpassed 5,300 Thursday. Worldwide, there are over 1,002,000 cases and over 50,000 fatalities, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.
Meanwhile, private cars, buses and charter flights began taking passengers as two cruise ships docked at Port Everglades. Many will be evacuated from the ships — ending an ordeal at sea brought on by the deaths of four passengers and more than 200 who got sick.
As for the statewide stay-at-home order, DeSantis cited examples that it’s OK to shoot basketball in your driveway, but not to pick up a five-on-five basketball game. He also said it would be fine for a person to go fishing with their son, but again, to not gather in groups outside, or at home. He did clarify that local governments can go beyond the lowest limits of the state order.
“If local governments want to shut down the running trail, then they can do it,” he said. “What we’re doing is setting a floor, and they can’t go below the floor.”
He also said he was issuing executive orders today, one is that he’s suspending foreclosures and evictions for the next 45 days and another for the Department of Economic Opportunity to buy more software to battle the influx of unemployed (see below).
“I’m not sure you’re going to rent out a lot of new places right now anyways, but you never know how people will act.”
Regarding his omission of religious gatherings in his state order, DeSantis said, “So obviously, No. 1, I don’t think the government has the authority to close a church. I’m certainly not going to do that, but at same time, we got with the churches and synagogues very early and said in times like this, what you guys are doing I think is even more important, but we ask that you do it in a way that is conducive to this overall mission. We definitely asked them to also abide by the social distancing guidelines.”
The economic fallout from the outbreak continues with new national unemployment numbers at a staggering 6.6 million new claims last week, including 227,000 in Florida. The surging layoffs have led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April. The unemployment rate could spike to as high as 15 percent this month, above the previous record of 10.8 percent set during a deep recession in 1982.
Florida stay-at-home order: What you can and cannot do now
The virus is projected to kill thousands of Floridians even in a best-case scenario, as cases are continuing to double almost every three days in the state. A failure to impose stringent isolation measures — coupled with an older population — could make Florida one of the nation’s hardest-hit regions, said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Testing in Central Florida expanded Wednesday with the announcement that anyone with symptoms or a pre-existing medical condition can go to the drive-up center near the Orange County Convention Center. Testing also expanded in Brevard County.
South Florida is the epicenter of the pandemic in Florida, with 5,104 total cases in Miami-Dade (2,886), Broward (1,481) and Palm Beach (737) counties, making up about 57 percent of the state’s cases.
Orange County’s 541 cases leads Central Florida, followed by Osceola’s 170, Seminole’s 145, Polk’s 103, Volusia’s 102, Lake’s 82, Sumter’s 66 and Brevard’s 49. The virus has killed 16 people in Central Florida, including the first two recorded deaths in Lake County. (See details on all Central Florida cases here).
More than 80,000 tests have been conducted in Florida. More than 70,000 were negative, and the results of over 1,300 are pending.
Click here for a timeline of how the coronavirus crisis grew in Central Florida.
You can find a running summary of the latest updates on the coronavirus in the Orlando area and Florida below. Also, sign up for new daily Florida coronavirus update by subscribing to The Health Report newsletter and as-they-happen Breaking News emails at OrlandoSentinel.com/newsletters.
Latest news
Brevard County to block tourists, leisure travelers
Tourists and leisure travelers are blocked from staying in Brevard County effective 12:01 a.m. Friday, April 3 until the governor’s executive stay-at-home order expires. Until then, hotels, motels, short-term rentals, vacation rentals, recreational vehicle parks and campgrounds and other transient rentals, such as time shares, vacation rentals by owner, and Airbnb, will deny reservations, including those made in advance, to visitors and travelers from outside the county. Exceptions include business travelers who can produce a note from their employer, those who are working in Brevard County, local residents and residents who need to isolate away from a family member with coronavirus.Also, the County Commission voted to restrict access to spoil islands and sandbars for all individuals to help comply with CDC social distancing guidelines.Also Thursday, Brevard County cities banded together to define acceptable activities on the beach. Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, and Melbourne Beach will be closed except for walking, jogging, biking, fishing, surfing and swimming until April 30, 2020. Not allowed will be sunbathing, sitting in chairs, organized sports or lying on blankets and grouping of persons is not permitted. Also, the cities said people will not be allowed to congregate on boardwalks and access areas.
DeSantis says overwhelmed unemployment compensation system will be addressed
Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would divert state staff and beef up call centers and technology for the trouble unemployment compensation system that has been flooded by tens of thousands Floridians out of work because of coronavirus.
At a news conference, DeSantis said he ordered state agency heads to identify state employees who could supplement staff at the Department of Economic Opportunity, which handles jobless claims. He said he also ordered DEO to improve call centers and buy additional servers for CONNECT, the computer system that handles applications for claims.
“Because this whole web platform is overloaded, people should be able to fill out a paper application … we should be willing to accept that,” DeSantis said.
Scores of Floridians have complained that attempts to apply for unemployment have been thwarted by busy signals and computer crashes.
Florida stay-at-home order would limit use of state’s beaches, Volusia to close Friday
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that he would enact a statewide stay-at-home order that would go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, April 3 and last through April 30.
Previously, individual counties and cities had enacted their own stay-at-home or safer-at-home orders, while others limited interactions in public space, and that included each county dealing with their own beaches.
Trump administration formalizing guidance that many Americans wear face masks outside
The Trump administration is formalizing new guidance to recommend that many, if not almost all, Americans wear face coverings when leaving home, in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
The recommendations, still being finalized Thursday, would apply at least to those who live in areas hard-hit by community transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19. A person familiar with the White House coronavirus task force’s discussion said officials would suggest that non-medical masks, T-shirts or bandannas be used to cover the nose and mouth when outside the home — for instance, at the grocery store or pharmacy. Medical-grade masks, particularly short-in-supply N95 masks, would be reserved for those dealing directly with the sick.
HBO offers free content amid coronavirus
In an effort to encourage people to stay inside amid the coronavirus pandemic, HBO is offering almost 500 hours of free content, according to a press release.
Starting April 3, HBO will grant free access for a limited time to dozens of series, documentaries and movies on HBO Now and HBO Go.
Magic salute healthcare workers fighting coronavirus pandemic
There has been no shortage of gratitude being shown for the efforts of healthcare workers during the coronavirus outbreak.
The Orlando Magic also want those in the healthcare field to know how much their work amid the pandemic is both appreciated and admired.
In a video posted Thursday to the Magic’s Twitter account, Magic CEO Alex Martins, president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, Magic broadcasters David Steele and Dante Marchitelli, and players Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac and Nikola Vucevic delivered messages of thanks and support.
DeSantis quietly signs second order overruling all local coronavirus orders, including church bans
Large church services could still be allowed in Florida despite coronavirus fears if a new order signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis is as sweeping as it appears.
DeSantis’s original order Wednesday requiring Floridians to stay at home until April 30 superseded all local government shelter-in-place or stay home orders, but it still allowed local governments to impose further restrictions as they deemed appropriate.
But a second order he quietly signed a few hours later appears to contradict that — and could open the door to the kinds of large religious gatherings that had been banned in many counties.
Orlando delivery driver for Amazon tests positive for coronavirus, report says
A driver who delivers packages out of Amazon’s Orange Blossom Trail facility in Orlando has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a report in Business Insider.
The driver works for a company that contracts with Amazon and was delivering from the facility at 1216 S. Orange Blossom Trail, the report said.
Lawyer sues to close all Florida beaches amid outbreak. Gov. DeSantis wants case thrown out
Pointing to his “discretionary” powers in dealing with emergencies, Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking a circuit judge to toss out a lawsuit aimed at forcing statewide beach closures because of the novel coronavirus.
Attorneys for DeSantis filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed by Santa Rosa Beach lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder amid debate about whether groups of beachgoers — including spring break crowds of college students — have worsened the spread of COVID-19, the deadly respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
Democrats delay Milwaukee convention
The Democratic National Committee is delaying its presidential nominating convention until the week of Aug. 17 after prospective nominee Joe Biden said he didn’t think it would be possible to hold a normal convention in mid-July.
Convention CEO Joe Solmonese confirmed the decision in a statement Thursday. “In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention,” Solmonese said.
Biden on Wednesday night told NBC late-night comedian Jimmy Fallon that he doubted “whether the Democratic convention is going to be able to be held” on its original July 13-16 schedule in Milwaukee.
Costco adds another policy
Costco is limiting shoppers inside their warehouses to two people per membership card, effective Friday. In addition, Costco has previously announced it will close U.S. warehouses at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Gas stations are opening at 7:30 a.m. daily while closing at 7 p.m. on weekdays and 6:30 p.m. on weekends.
Coronavirus is crashing nearly every wedding in sight
Coronavirus has become the world’s greatest wedding crasher. Like many others. About 2.2 million weddings are held each year in the U.S., which works out to about 6,000 a day. The vast majority have been postponed or canceled.
Such woes may seem meaningless when thousands of people are dying of COVID-19. But America’s wedding-industrial complex generates $72 billion a year. A lot of florists, photographers, planners, caterers, jewelers, venues, seamstresses, makeup artists, tuxedo stores and limo drivers are out of work.
200,000 worldwide have recovered
As global cases march toward a sobering 1 million cases and 50,000 deaths, the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 surpassed 200,000 on Thursday. The majority of those cases have been in China where the outbreak first took hold back in December, but hard-hit countries Spain and Italy as well as Germany, which has many more intensive-care beds that neighboring European countries, have all seen significant recovery numbers.
100,000 body bags on order
A Pentagon spokesman says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested 100,000 human remains “pouches.” Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Andrews says the request is being fulfilled by the Defense Logistics Agency. Pouches are also commonly referred to as “body bags.”
Andrews wrote in a statement that the Department of Defense and the Defense Logistics Agency have a longstanding arrangement with FEMA to procure key commodities during crisis response operations. Andrews added the Defense Logistics Agency is currently responding to FEMA’s prudent planning efforts for 100,000 pouches to address mortuary contingencies on behalf of state health agencies.
Residents snitch on businesses, neighbors amid shutdowns
Snitches are emerging as enthusiastic allies as cities, states and countries work to enforce directives meant to limit person-to-person contact amid the virus pandemic that has claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide. They’re phoning police and municipal hotlines, complaining to elected officials and shaming perceived scofflaws on social media.
Biden predicts Democratic convention delay until August
Prospective Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he thinks his party’s nominating convention will have to be pushed back from July into August because of the coronavirus threat. “It’s going to depend on what kind of action is taken between now and the middle of the summer to change this curve,” Biden said in a Wednesday interview with ABC late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
Fauci: Get healthy people off cruise ships
Dr. Anthony Fauci says those on cruise ships who are not sick need to disembark “as quickly as possible” to prevent further spread of the virus. The top U.S. infectious disease official says those on the ships who are sick with the new coronavirus obviously need medical attention.
Fauci told “CBS This Morning” on Thursday that some of those passengers on cruise are Americans and the others need to be safely returned to their home countries.
Dozens of cruise ships are either lined up at Port Miami and Port Everglades or waiting offshore due to the coronavirus pandemic. Federal, state and local officials have been negotiating over whether Carnival’s Holland America cruise ships, the Zaandam and Rotterdam, would be allowed to dock at Port Everglades this week.
But the company’s Coral Princess is coming, too, with what that ship’s medical center called a higher-than-normal number of people with flu-like symptoms.
Why coronavirus hits some people harder than others
The top U.S. infectious disease official says medical experts are no closer to figuring out why some seemingly healthy people infected by the new coronavirus develop only mild or no symptoms but others become very sick. Dr. Anthony Fauci says on NBC’s “Today” show he’s been “puzzled from the beginning” of the coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He says it’s “very strange” how the virus can be “completely devastating” and lead to “viral pneumonia and respiratory failure” in one person and be “absolutely nothing” in another person. Fauci says he’s been working in infectious diseases for almost 50 years but doesn’t “fully understand exactly what the mechanism of that is.”
He says finding the answer is going to require natural history studies, which follow people over time while collecting their health information.
Spain passes 10,000 deaths
Spain is second only to Italy in number of deaths, passing the 10,000 mark on Thursday. Italy has more than 13,000 while France just passed 4,000.
Florida stay-at-home order: What you can and cannot do now
DeSantis’ executive order mandating Floridians stay home starting at 12:01 a.m. Friday contains exemptions for “essential services.” That list is extensive.
The order supersedes all local government shelter-in-place or stay home orders, although local governments can impose further restrictions as they deem appropriate.
Florida had been the only state with more than 5,000 cases without such an order, with DeSantis insisting that localized orders for South Florida and by individual cities and counties were sufficient. More than 30 other states had already issued such orders, including other large states such as California, New York and Illinois. Those all acted more than a week ago.
DeSantis’ about-face came as health data experts gave clearer estimates of coronavirus’ toll, warning that even with social distancing, Florida could see a median of 6,937 deaths, and the virus could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 people in the United States in the coming months.
President Trump is resisting calls to issue a national stay-at-home order despite these projections. One by one, though, states are increasingly pushing shutdown orders of their own.
Lenders already overwhelmed as Orlando’s small businesses scramble for loans
Small business owners in Central Florida are desperately looking to loans to stay afloat and keep paying staff. But already, loan administers and lenders are buried by the avalanche of applications.
Without that funding, Chris Hurn, CEO and founder of Fountainhead, one of the nation’s largest non-bank SBA lenders, estimates there will be hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of businesses shut down permanently in the coming months.
Coronavirus may have spread at Super Bowl in Miami, DeSantis says
Coronavirus may have spread at the Super Bowl, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis believes, saying it was likely circulating in Miami at the Feb. 2 NFL championship game. South Florida has more confirmed coronavirus cases than other parts of the state, so DeSantis speculated that the nationwide spectacle of Super Bowl LIV was to blame.
Florida’s first positive COVID-19 test wasn’t confirmed until March 1, but testing across the country was and continues to be inadequate for accurately tracking all cases.
U.S. unemployment claims hit 6.6 million, another record high
More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, far exceeding a record high set just last week, a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus.
The job cuts are mounting against the backdrop of economies in the United States and abroad that have almost certainly sunk into a severe recession as businesses close across the world.
Most homeowners can skip mortgage payments for up to a year
Here’s some coronavirus relief your bank or home loan servicer might not be telling you: New federal coronavirus relief measures enable most homeowners with mortgage loans to put off making their mortgage payments for a full year.
And once we get back to normal, those borrowers will have the option to tack those missed payments to the end of their loan terms. Your credit won’t suffer. Read more here.
ER doc: ‘Like waiting for the tsunami to hit’
To an Orlando emergency-room doctor, waiting for coronavirus cases is like “waiting for the tsunami to hit.” She says this is the first time that she’s felt inadequate in using her knowledge and skills to assess risk and anticipate what is to come: “No one alive can provide first-hand experience or advice.”
OneBlood to accept donations from survivors for experimental treatment
OneBlood donation centers will be collecting plasma from COVID-19 survivors as part of an experimental treatment for those infected with the novel coronavirus. Once collected, the plasma will then be administered to patients infected with the virus in the hope of aiding their recovery through the use of a survivors’ antibodies, said OneBlood spokeswoman Pat Michaels.
HCA nurses protest lack of N95 masks, other PPE
Nurses at two Central Florida HCA hospitals are holding protests this week, demanding that the national for-profit hospital chain provide them with optimal personal protective equipment, such as N95 masks, and head-to-toe coverings.
Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee and Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford are among 15 hospitals in seven states holding protests on Wednesday and Thursday, led by National Nurses United, the largest labor union for registered nurses in the U.S.
Florida’s broken unemployment system
Florida unemployment system is failing workers, particularly those from impoverished, underserved and immigrant communities for whom the digital and language divide is an even greater barrier to access desperately needed benefits. The challenges Florida’s system is facing are creating one more hurdle for all of the state’s newly unemployed — about 330,000 people have filed for assistance this month alone as of Monday.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which runs the state unemployment system, knows there is a problem. DeSantis has already streamlined the application process by waiving requirements that ask applicants to submit information on employers they tried to contact for work. Ken Lawson, DEO’s executive director, is looking for other places to make the program easier to navigate, too.
Crisis expands in New York
The state of New York now has logged more positive coronavirus cases than China. It has more than 84,000 statewide to China’s more than 82,000, although only 2,200 deaths to China’s 3,322. New York City alone accounts for nearly 50,000 of those cases and 1,400 deaths as of Thursday morning.
Governments outbid each other for protective gear
The worldwide race to protect people against unwitting coronavirus carriers intensified Thursday, pitting governments against each other as they buy protective gear and prompting new questions about who should wear masks, get temperature checks or even be permitted to go outside.
In the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic began in December, a green symbol on residents’ smartphones dictates their movements. Green is the “health code” that says a user is symptom-free and it’s required to board a subway, check into a hotel or enter the central city of 11 million. Serious travel restrictions still exist for those who have yellow or red symbols.
Pregnant TV chef’s birth plan ‘out the window’
MacKenzie Smith, a New Smyrna Beach chef who has won “Guy’s Grocery Games” on Food Network twice, is navigating her first pregnancy during a pandemic. She worries about getting the virus and having to give birth, potentially infecting other women and what it would mean for her child.
Evidence of spread by seemingly healthy people
Scientists offered more evidence Wednesday that the coronavirus is spread by seemingly healthy people who show no clear symptoms, and the federal government issued new guidance warning that anyone exposed to the disease can be considered a carrier.
A study by researchers in Singapore became the latest to estimate that somewhere around 10% of new infections may be sparked by people who carry the virus but have not yet suffered its flu-like symptoms.
All 146,000 federal inmates to be locked in cells for 14 days
The federal Bureau of Prisons is locking all its 146,000 inmates in their cells for the next two weeks in an unparalleled effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as the focus shifts to a Louisiana compound, where two inmates have died and nearly 20 others remain hospitalized.
The compound, known as FCC Oakdale, has emerged as ground zero in the federal prison system’s struggle to contain coronavirus behind bars. The situation there is so dire that the local health department told the federal government there was no need to test inmates anymore for the coronavirus. Those showing symptoms should be presumed to have it.
Working at home: Grand plans for professionalism deteriorate
On the first day of self-isolation at the Maxwell House, my wife and I had grand ambitions for working at home.
“Consummate professionalism!” That was our motto.
Corcoran praises Florida schools for quick move to online learning
Florida’s school districts have done an “amazing” job pivoting to online education just weeks after campuses were shuttered to control the spread of the new coronavirus, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said Wednesday.
Corcoran, speaking at a State Board of Education meeting held by telephone, said he was impressed with the work of Florida’s school superintendents and wanted to give “tremendous credit to the entire education community in the state of Florida.”
SeaWorld, Crayola Experience add to wave of at-home activities
Members of the tourism and attractions community continue to provide online content for entertainment and educational purposes during the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down schools and theme parks alike. Add offerings from Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and the Crayola Experience to the options.
SeaWorld Orlando and its sister park Busch Gardens Tampa Bay have made public some of its (mostly) animal-driven resources that are tailored to students between kindergarten and 12th grade.
Alafaya Trail test site takes 199 samples in first week
A coronavirus testing site on Alafaya Trail tested nearly 200 people in its first week, according to the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. Health officials still hope to ramp up its capacity to about 50 tests per day, while so far its most productive day resulted in 39 samples being collected, said Kent Donahue, a spokesman for the agency.
Central Florida hotel occupancy plummets
Central Florida hotel occupancy and revenue plunged last week as the coronavirus pandemic battered one of the region’s most important industries.
New data shared Wednesday by the industry tracker STR showed 14% of Central Florida’s more than 125,000 rooms had occupants during the week of March 22-28.
COVID-19 left you with time on your hands? Write a play or a song
Writers, pens at the ready. With people self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic, several arts groups are looking for writers. And, after all, in most cases, writing is a solitary activity.
In all cases, the writing-based initiatives are open to all; no experience required, as they say.
What to do if you can’t pay your bills
Here is what to do if you cannot pay your bills today due to the coronavirus pandemic. Do not panic. There are options for those who cannot pay their bills. Here are recommendations based on Orlando Sentinel interviews and research.
Tip of the day
Are you feeling stressed or depressed from the COVID19 outbreak? There are resources available for you. You can contact the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or visit https://bddy.me/3dMPiIl.
Symptoms? Do this
Call your health-care provider if you have cough, fever and shortness of breath — and you’ve been in close contact with someone how has COVID-19 or has recently traveled to one of the following countries, where the virus transmission is widespread: China, Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea.
How to protect yourself
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Stay home when you are sick and avoid contact with persons in poor health.
Don’t touch your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then dispose of the tissue.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
Clean and disinfect touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
Follow these recommendations for using a face mask: CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a face mask. The masks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. The use of masks are also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings.
Questions? Here are numbers to call
The Florida Department of Health has set up a call center to answer questions about coronavirus. There’s a number for Orange County, too.
The Florida Department of Health’s number is 1-866-779-6121 and is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents can also email questions to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.
In Orange County, the number to call is 407-723-5004; it’s available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For accurate, up-to-date information, visit
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov
The Florida Department of Health: floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/COVID-19. For questions, call the COVID-19 call center at 866-779-6121 or email COVID-19@flhealth.gov.
A live map of COVID-19 cases around the globe: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
You want to be extra-prepared? Here’s how to stock up before a pandemic: ready.gov/pandemic
For the latest coronavirus updates, visit OrlandoSentinel.com/coronavirus and follow @orlandosentinel on Twitter.
See complete coverage at OrlandoSentinel.com/coronavirus.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
