17-Year-Old Pasco Boy Youngest In Florida To Die Of Coronavirus

PASCO COUNTY, FL — A 17-year-old Pasco County boy has become the youngest fatality of the coronavirus in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The death was announced Saturday. Since the pandemic was declared, only three people under the age of 24 have died from the coronavirus in Florida.

According to the Department of Health's pediatric report on the coronavirus, 4,809 children under 17 have tested positive for the virus, with 131 hospitalized.

Tampa Bay health officials are continuing to sound the alarm following an uptick in positive coronavirus cases among younger adults.

On Saturday, Pinellas County had a record 285 new cases.

In addition to the death of the 17-year-old Pasco County teen, one person died in Pinellas County and five in Hillsborough County.

The new deaths include a 67-year-old woman, an 81-year-old man, an 87-year-old man, a 65-year-old and an 84-year-old woman in Hillsborough County and a 74-year-old man in Pinellas County.

As of Saturday, Pasco County had a total of 750 cases with 104 hospitalizations and 17 deaths. Hillsborough County had 5,319 cases with 580 hospitalized and 114 deaths. And Pinellas County has had 3,438 with 537 hospitalizations and 114 deaths.

Click here for more information about this data.

The upward trend in positive cases continues across the state with a record 4,049 new cases reported Saturday for a total of 93,797 positive cases with 3,144 deaths.

Florida has experienced an increase of more than 1,000 coronavirus cases in 16 of the last 17 days.

During a discussion at Florida International University in Miami Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attributed the rise in positive cases, especially among the younger population, to increased testing.

DeSantis said the state has now tested 1.5 million people and hopes to have two million tested soon.

He said the increase in positive results among younger people was anticipated.

When the state began testing, the median age of those testing positive was in the 60s. As more testing became available, the median age began to go down. As of last week, he said the median age of all the positive tests was 37.

“I can tell you with the cases we are seeing this week, which has been increased cases, that median age is plunging even further," DeSantis said.

But Tampa Bay leaders are concerned about the rise of positive cases in younger residents correlating with the statewide reopening of businesses including bars and entertainment venues where young people gather.

Out of caution, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued a mandatory face mask order that went into effect Friday night. On Saturday, the city distributed also distributed 50,000 free face masks.

The Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group is meeting Monday to consider a countywide order mandating the wearing of face masks in public.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman issued an order requiring all employees to wear face masks effective Friday. And the Pinellas County Commission is considering a similar order.

The commission also began distributing thousands of free masks to businesses this weekend.

Tampa Bay athletes aren't immune to the impact of the coronavirus.

On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers confirmed that two players and an assistant coach, tested positive for the coronavirus at the AdventHealth Training Facility at 1 Buccaneer Place in Tampa. The Phillies reported that five players training at Spectrum Field in Clearwater tested positive. Additionally, four members of the New York Yankees tested positive for the coronavirus at the New York Yankees Training Camp at 1 Steinbrenner Drive in Tampa.

On Friday, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that three players and other staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Lightning training facility, the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon.

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