Panama City, Fla.— The Florida Department of Health in Bay County (DOH-Bay) confirmed three COVID-19 related deaths; a 67-year-old woman (case confirmed August 13), a 75-year-old man (case confirmed August 14), and a 93-year-old man (case confirmed August 15).

DOH-Bay offers condolences to the families and will continue to work diligently with our community partners to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Please note that although these deaths are being reported today that does not mean these deaths occurred in the last 24 hours, rather, they were confirmed in the past 24 hours.

DOH-Bay received confirmation of 15 additional cases of COVID-19 in Bay County residents with 114 negative test results and a 11.63% positive rate for August 24. There is one non-Florida resident confirmed case.

According to the Agency for Health Care Administration as of 10 a.m. today there are 66 persons in Bay County hospitals with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19.

The age range for Bay County residents testing positive for COVID-19 for August 24 is 0-4 years (0), 5-14 years (0), 15-24 years (1), 25-34 (3), 35-44 (4), 45-54 (0), 55-64 (6), 65-74 (0), 75-84 (0), 85+ (1).

Bay County’s total case count is at 5,195 including 5,114 residents and 81 non-residents. There have been 74 COVID-19 related deaths of Bay County residents. There have been 16 deaths associated with long-term care facilities. Bay County’s overall COVID-19 positive testing rate is 17 percent. Of the 29,879 tests processed, 24,627 tests are negative.

Cities of Bay County cases based on patient’s ZIP Code: Panama City (3,324), Lynn Haven (794), Panama City Beach (667), Youngstown (100), Southport (73), Fountain (58), Missing (41), Callaway (19), Tyndall Air Force Base (12), Mexico Beach (11), Parker (5), Vernon (3), Inlet Beach (2), Bayou George (2), Seacrest (1), Rosemary Beach (1), and Watersound (1).

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

Beginning, August 15, DOH-Bay will not provide COVID-19 news releases on the weekends. Monday’s release will include data from Saturday and Sunday. The https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/#latest-stats has links to State and County reports, line lists of cases, and the COVID-19 dashboard and will continue to be updated at approximately 10 a.m. daily. Please refer to those for updates for Bay County on Saturdays and Sundays.

Question of The Day

We are being encouraged and sometimes told that we need to wear masks. Has there been any studies to show that wearing a mask will prevent the spread of COVID-19?

Yes, when two stylists at a Missouri hair salon tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, researchers from CoxHealth hospitals, Washington University, the University of Kansas, and the Springfield-Greene County Health Department worked together to trace contacts, investigate the cases, and publish their findings.

One of the stylists developed respiratory symptoms but continued to see clients for eight days. The other, who apparently became infected from her co-worker, also developed respiratory symptoms and continued to see clients for four days.

The salon in which they worked had a policy requiring both stylists and their clients to wear face coverings, consistent with the local government ordinance. Both stylists wore double-layered cloth face coverings or surgical masks when seeing clients. The median appointment time was 15 minutes and ranged from 15 to 45 minutes. More than 98% of clients wore a face covering—47% wore cloth face coverings, 46% wore surgical masks, and about 5% wore N-95 respirators.

When customers were asked whether they had been ill with any respiratory symptoms in the 90 days preceding their appointment, 87 (84%) reported that they had not. None of the interviewed customers developed symptoms of illness. Among 67 (48%) customers who volunteered to be tested, all 67 tested negative for the virus that causes COVID-19. Several family members of one of the stylist’s subsequently developed symptoms and received a diagnosis of COVID-19.

Click here to read the entire study.

One Goal One Florida asks all Floridians to join this important initiative by following these simple, yet effective steps to mitigate and slow the spread of the virus:

1. Protect the vulnerable, including the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions 
2. Practice proper hygiene, including washing your hands 
3. Practice social distancing, avoiding closed spaces and crowded places 
4. Wear a mask, if you are in close contact with others 

Testing

Lynn Haven Sports Park
2201 Recreation Drive

Frank Brown Park
16200 Panama City Beach Parkway

Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Criteria: 18 and older, photo identification required upon arrival for appointment
Cost: Free

Appointments recommended. To make an appointment for a test, visit https://makoexchangedev.com/baycounty/. While appointments are encouraged, walk-in clients are being accepted at both testing locations after 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and after 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.

DOH-Bay

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.

Test Results

Bay County Testing Sites

To contact the testing lab to inquire about your results, please call (919) 390-3060 or email info@makomedical.com. You will receive a text message when your results are ready. You will access your test results through the same website where you registered for testing. Simply visit https://makoexchangedev.com/baycounty/, log-in, and there is a link to get results.

DOH-Bay

If you have been tested by DOH-Bay, please answer the call from the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 results line at (833) 917-2880. They will ask for a name and date of birth to provide you with a negative test result. This number is legitimate and is a Department of Health sponsored initiative. Caller ID should identify the call as FL DOH. This will provide support to DOH-Bay so that we can focus on contacting positives persons and case investigations. Please note callers will not ask for social security numbers or medical information. 

If you need physical copies of your COVID-19 test results, please follow the directions below:

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 https://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.

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About the Florida Department of Health

The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @HealthyFla. For more information about the Florida Department of Health, please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.