‘Community spread’ of COVID-19 here

Posted on May 27, 2020

Taylor County’s positive coronavirus (COVID-19) cases jumped from five to 14 in less than a week, with the Department of Health- Taylor (DOH-Taylor) citing “definite community spread.”

According to the DOH, none of the nine new cases reported recent travel, with all but one reporting they had been in contact with a known positive COVID-19 case.

“At this point, we can definitely say that we are seeing community spread,” DOH-Taylor Public Information Officer Martine Young said.

DOH-Taylor is working to find everyone who has been in contact with each positive case through contact tracing, a technique that is frequently used to track and prevent the spread of disease.

“We have an entire team of staff members that are hard hitting the contact tracing portion of public health seven days a week,” Young said.

“For clarity, contact tracing is not meant to identify where a person contracted the virus from, but to limit the continuation of spread through their contacts and break the chain of transmission,” Young said.

DOH epidemiologists define a “contact” as a person that has spent at least 30 minutes within six feet of a positive case.

“It is estimated that each infected person can, on average, infect two to three others, which is why this (contact tracing) portion is so important in limiting the spread,” Young said.

However, if a person is listed as a contact, they are not automatically tested. Instead, they will receive a daily phone call for 14 days from their last known exposure to the positive case monitoring them for symptoms and reiterating the need to stay home until they have been released from the monitoring process.

According to the DOH, the county’s latest positive cases include (by date):

• May 20: a 70-year-old male, a 24-year-old female and a 22-year-old female,

• May 21: a 61-year-old male and a 31-year-old male,

• May 22: a 56-year-old female.

• May 24: a 57-year-old male, a 23-year-old female and a 32-year-old male.

Only the 57-year-old male reported he did not know where he contracted the virus.

“We encourage the community to continue practicing prevention actions, such as staying home if you are sick, keeping away from people who are sick, disinfecting high touch surface areas, practicing social distancing, utilizing a mask when in public and practicing proper hand hygiene,” Young said.

According to figures released by the DOH at 11 a.m. Tuesday, 864 people in Taylor County had been tested for coronavirus. There were zero pending test results as of press time.

Of the completed tests, 847 have returned negative for coronavirus, while only 1.6% (14) of the tests have been returned positive. One test was inconclusive.

All four of Taylor County’s direct neighbors – Jefferson, Madison, Dixie and Lafayette – have also had at least eight confirmed cases.

Madison has the highest infection rate of Taylor County’s direct neighbors with 69 positive cases. Of the 69 positive cases, Madison has reported three deaths and four hospitalizations.

Test results have been returned on 1,034 people, with zero tests pending and two tests returned inconclusive.

To date, Jefferson has tested 594 people with 29 positive tests. Jefferson has reported three subsequent deaths and seven hospitalizations.

In Dixie, 791 people have been tested, yielding 44 positive test results. One death and eight hospitalizations have occurred as a result.

With 360 tests completed with zero pending tests, Lafayette has confirmed eight positive coronavirus cases and one hospitalization.

State-wide, Florida has surpassed 52,000 cases as of Tuesday’s 11 a.m. update. Of the 52,255, more than 9,400 have been hospitalized and 2,259 have died due to COVID-19.

The number of new cases reported in Florida each day appears to have leveled off at around 600-700 new cases reported each day, with occasional peaks of 1,000.

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