Coronavirus: Mother and son at Sarasota Military Academy under quarantine

SARASOTA — A mother and son from Sarasota Military Academy have been quarantined after coming into contact with a patient who tested “presumptively positive” for coronavirus at Doctors Hospital, the school reports.

The mother came into contact with the patient in her “professional roles,” according to a post on the Sarasota Military Academy’s official Facebook page.

“Our student and his mother currently are not showing any symptoms and is in good health and spirits,” the post reads. “We will keep you and your families updated with their status. Please remember to consistently and thoroughly wash your hands.

“We are continuing to disinfect all classrooms and common areas as we have previously done due to flu season. We will continue to work with the District and the Sarasota County Health Department for advisement after an 11 a.m. conference call.”

Officials from Sarasota County and health care facilities around the area are also participating in the call to discuss an emergency response for coronavirus, a novel respiratory virus transmitted between people and animals.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order late Sunday night declaring a public health emergency after two Florida residents — one in Manatee County and another from Hillsborough County — tested “presumptively positive.”

These are the only two confirmed cases in Florida. However, the Florida Department of Health reports that there are eight other pending cases and 15 negative results statewide. There are 184 people under public health monitoring.

The FDOH is actively monitoring all persons under investigation for coronavirus for a period of at least 14 days or until tests are negative, the executive order states.

“As of right now, we are repeating the messaging we receive from the state,” Sarasota County spokeswoman Brianne Grant says. “They are taking the lead on that. We are working with our Department of Health at the local level.”

Grant says Sarasota County is participating in calls with state health officials Monday morning.

“This will be very similar to messaging for an approaching hurricane or large-scale event,” Grant says. “We activate our incident management team and have scheduled calls with State health officials.”

Kim Savage, a spokeswoman at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, said they had meetings scheduled Monday and would have additional information around noon.

Check back for updates.

This article originally appeared on heraldtribune.com.