Bay County Hospitals Begin to Fill with COVID-19 Patients

Panama City, Florida — The Florida Department of Health in Bay County (DOH-Bay) received confirmation of 79 additional cases of COVID-19. According to the Agency for Health Care Administration as of 9 a.m. today there are 73 persons in Bay County hospitals with COVID-19.

Bay County’s total case count is at 1,602 including 1,558 residents and 44 non-residents. Eight Bay County residents have died from COVID-19. Bay County’s overall COVID-19 positive testing rate is 12 percent. Of the 13,563 tests processed, 11,937 tests are negative.

The age range for Bay County residents testing positive for COVID-19 for July 12 is 0-4 years (2), 5-14 years (1), 15-24 years (11), 25-34 (18), 35-44 (17), 45-54 (12), 55-64 (12), 65-74 (5), 75-84 (0), and 85+ (0).

Cities of Bay County cases based on patient’s ZIP Code: Panama City (1,062), Panama City Beach (229), Lynn Haven (161), Southport (29), Youngstown (21), Fountain (17), Missing (15), Callaway (9), Tyndall Air Force Base (7), Inlet Beach (2), Mexico Beach (2), Bayou George (1), Parker (1), Seacrest (1), and Watersound (1).

Data is preliminary and subject to change based on public health investigations.

COVID-19 Question of the Day

What can I do to prepare my child for school?

The CDC offers a checklist for parents and information on how to safely wear and take off a cloth face covering. Bay District Schools voted to require masks when social distancing is not possible. These guidance from the CDC and more were shared through PeachJar yesterday and on the Bay District Schools Facebook page. It is included in the pdf release today.

Practice and reinforce good prevention habits with your family
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Keep your child at home if sick with any illness.
If your child is sick, keep them at home and contact your healthcare provider. Talk with teachers about classroom assignments and activities they can do from home to keep up with their schoolwork.
Teach your children how to safely wear and take off a cloth face covering.

Prevention

Protect the vulnerable by avoiding the Three Cs: Closed Spaces, Crowded Places and Close-Contact Settings and by wearing a mask in public:

Closed Spaces. Avoid closed spaces with poor ventilation that could allow contagious droplets to linger in the air.
Crowded Places. Avoid crowded places with many people nearby; the greater the number of individuals in an area, the greater the chances of COVID-19 spreading from person-to-person.
Close-Contact Settings. Avoid close-range conversations and stay at least six-feet from others.

Testing

DOH-Bay is testing anyone with symptoms of COVID-19. For screening, please call DOH-Bay at (850) 872-4455 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and follow the prompts. Testing is by appointment only. Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, muscle pain, new loss of taste or smell, vomiting or diarrhea, and/or sore throat. The CDC has a symptom checker available at CDC.gov/coronavirus. For additional testing options and information, visit Bay.FloridaHealth.gov.

DOH-Bay Test Results

Phone: Call (850) 872-4455 and follow the prompts to COVID test results prompts and request the status with the representative. You will be provided with the option to obtain your results in person (if negative) or electronically (negative or positive).

Office: If you come to our office, do not get out of your car. Please call (850) 872-4455 and follow the COVID test results prompts. Please let us know you are in the parking lot and we will deliver your results to you in your vehicle.

Email: You can make your request by emailing baymedicalrecords@flhealth.gov. After you complete the authorization form, you will need to respond with a picture of your photo ID and we will send your result to you via an encrypted email. The email must be viewed on a desktop or laptop PC as the encryption is not mobile friendly.

Additional Data

The state provides a report detailing surveillance data for every Florida county, which is available here.

In order to make the daily COVID-19 report easier to download and more accessible, the daily report will now separate case line data in a separate PDF. Both reports will continue to be updated daily. The case line data report is available here.

Florida long-term care facility data:

The list of long-term care facilities with active COVID-19 cases is available here.
The list of long-term care facilities with deaths is available here, which is updated weekly.

The antibody COVID-19 test results report will be provided once a week and contains county, race and lab information on antibody COVID-19 tests conducted in Florida. The report for antibody tests conducted by private health care providers is available here and the report for antibody tests conducted at state-supported COVID-19 testing sites is available here.

The Agency for Health Care Administration added an additional tab to the Hospital Bed Capacity Dashboard to reflect hospitalizations with the primary diagnosis of COVID-19.

More information on a case-by-case basis can also be found here.

For more Information on COVID-19

For text alert updates from the Florida Department of Health in Bay County, text “bayhealth” to 888-777. For additional information specific to Bay County, visit http://bay.floridahealth.gov/ or BayHealthCOVID19.com. Contact the Citizens Information Center seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at (850) 248-6090, or email ask@baycountyfl.gov.

To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, please visit the Department of Health’s dedicated COVID-19 website at FloridaHealthCOVID19.gov. For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida, call (866) 779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day or email COVID-19@flhealth.gov.

The free StrongerThanC19 app is available to both iOS and Android users and can be downloaded from the Apple or Google app stores. The StrongerThanC19 app and website are designed to gather information to help the Department of Health track and slow the spread of COVID-19 in Florida; they are not intended to be used as a symptom checker designed to dispense medical advice.