BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Officials in Brevard County held a news conference Wednesday to discuss Gov. DeSantis’s executive order following the rising number of coronavirus cases in Florida.
[MORE COVERAGE: Florida may not see peak of COVID-19 infections until early May, study shows]
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The executive order will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday and will require the state of Florida to “take a pause” for 30 days and stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Residents will still be allowed to go out to get essential supplies, including food and groceries.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said it was sifting through the 40-page order to see what additional stores or businesses needed to be closed.
The news conference included Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, Commission Chair Bryan Lober, Brevard County Health Officer Maria Stahl, and Public Safety Director Matt Wallace.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, the county had 38 positive cases of the coronavirus, with seven patients in the hospital and three people on ventilators.
Brevard County Health Officer Maria Stahl informed the community that they should expect the number of cases to increase as time goes on.
“Stay home. We’ll get through this together, but you do need to stay home,” Stahl said.
Stahl added that the county continues to conduct testing at health department clinics for:
- Those with symptoms
- Anyone over the age of 65
- First responders
- Those with previous health conditions or a note from a doctor
Symptoms would include a fever, sore throat and shortness of breath, according to Stahl.
For questions or concerns, officials ask those in the community to refer to their website, Brevardfl.gov.
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