As of November 2020 more than 914,000 people in Florida have tested positive for COVID-19 & the state department of health reported over 18,000 deaths
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, more than 914,000 people in Florida have tested positive — including some Florida politicians. Sen. Rick Scott announced Friday via Twitter that he had tested positive and was experiencing mild symptoms. Earlier this week, seven Florida House members were excused from session because they had tested positive earlier or after traveling to the capital, or had been exposed to someone with COVID-19. They are David Borrero, Adam Botana, Demi Busatta Cabrera, Mike Giallombardo, Michelle Salzman, Geraldine Thompson, and Jackie Toledo. In March, several Florida House members — then-Rep. Byron Donalds, Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Matt Gaetz — self-isolated after coming into contact with infected individuals. Donalds, now the incoming U.S. congressman, later tested positive. As of Friday, Florida Department of Health has reported more than 18,000 coronavirus deaths here and almost 53,000 hospitalizations since the pandemic began. Here’s a list of Florida politicians who have tested positive for COVID-19. In April, U.S. Rep Neal Dunn, R-Panama City, tested positive for the coronavirus. The 67-year-old Dunn went to the hospital when he began to feel ill but was not admitted. He self-quarantined. «I have so many good friends who bring food, vitamins and Gatorade, I can hole up here for a month,» Dunn told the Tallahassee Democrat. Dunn, a medical doctor, has represented all or parts of 19 counties since 2016. In June, TMZ posted a story and video with Dunn, who called masks and quarantines «the silliest things.» In the two-minute clip, Dunn is seen walking somewhere and tells the camera man that his Florida constituents don’t need masks or quarantine. «Are you a scientist? Are you a doctor? I am,» Dunn says in the video. «I think people have gone way overboard. By the way, being outside is the safest thing we can do.» At one point in the video, he laughs and says the camera man is wearing a mask: «You’re behind the mask, I can’t hear you.» April 2020: Congressman Neal Dunn tests positive for coronavirus State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, was hospitalized in early August for COVID-19 as a precaution. «So I got the X-ray back and it wasn’t what I expected. Doctor said I have some pretty serious damage in my lungs and is ordering me admitted to the hospital,» Fine wrote on his Facebook page. «I’m not going to lie — I’m pretty scared,» he said. Fine’s coronavirus infection was confirmed July 22. His two sons and wife also tested positive days after they were exposed to someone else who was positive. «They feel back to normal,» Fine said in August of his wife and kids in a text message to FLORIDA TODAY. Fine said his condition did not require supplemental oxygen or a ventilator: «Good news is they want me here as a precaution — for observation. Nothing about my present condition requires supplemental oxygen, let alone a ventilator,» Fine wrote in his post. He is the first Republican state legislator believed to have contracted the coronavirus and the first to be hospitalized. August 2020: State Rep. Randy Fine hospitalized as a precaution for COVID-19 Randy Fine says hydroxychloroquine is ‘not magic’ COVID cure, but believers won’t let go Byron Donalds, R-Naples, tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks prior to Election Day.
