By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Volusia County has reached a sad milestone with the coronavirus pandemic: A 65-year-old Volusia County man reportedly from Ormond Beach is the first COVID-19 fatality in this Central Florida oceanfront county and among 30,882 deaths worldwide.
Derrick Henry, Daytona Beach's mayor, issued a statement after Headline Surfer reached out to him on Facebook asking him for a response to the grim news.
"I am deeply saddened by the passing of our first COVID-19 victim in Volusia County," the mayor said in a written response privately to Headline Surfer and then re-posted on his Facebook page. "It is a reminder that we should all be practicing physical distance. Physical distance is the best way to stop community spread which is the top way to give our hospitals the critical time that they need."
The Florida Health Department had released very limited information on the decedent earlier on this Saturday evening, stating only that he was 65 and from Volusia County; that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Health Department said there were a total of eight new deaths from the coronavirus, including the one from Volusia County. The others were in Broward, Dade, Lee, Pasco, and Pinellas counties.
In addition to the eight deaths, new Florida cases include:
• 565 additional positive COVID-19 cases (554 Florida residents and 11 non-Florida residents) reported to the Florida Department of Health.
• 3,608 positive cases in Florida residents and 155 positive cases in non-Florida residents.
While Volusia County recorded its first death Saturday, officials in Orange County confirmed an 11-month-old baby was among the 213 people infected in that county. Seminole County so far has reported no coronavirus related deaths, but has 66 cases of virus-infected residents.
While Orange County has a shelter in place order that went into effect Thursday night, neighboring Seminole County has issued an order fo residents to maintain CDC recommended safety precautions of 6 feet of physical distance from others, hand washing and staying at home if at all possible.
Volusia County has the most relaxed order of the three counties along the Interstate 4 corridor from the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona to Disney Worlds and the Attractions in The City Beautiful, Orlando.
Volusia County government's edict is for its residents to follow the CDC's safety guidelines while senior county administrators continue to stress "the importance of personal responsibility and preparedness during the coronavirus pandemic."
And While Disney World closed its doors in mid-March and will remain shut down until further notice, Volusia County and Dayutona Beach's politicians continued playing host to 500,000 bikers during the 10-day rally earlier this month; the only response to the coronavirus coming from Daytona rescinding permits for itinerant vendors on Main Street on the next to the last day of the motorcycle rally.
Then when the college Spring Breakers were forced to leave the Miami-Fort Lauderdale beaches by mostly-Democratic Party politicians in South Florida, Volusia County's Republican-dominated Council kept the beaches here open, taking their cues from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Daytona's Mayor Henry, a Democrat, and Patricia Northey, also a Democrat and former longtime county councilwoman from Deltona, were highly critical of the beaches here remaining open and the huge influx of college kids displace from Florida who flocked to the World's Most Famous Beach in Daytona as well as beaches along Tampa and Clearwater on the Gulf side of the Sunshine State, also governed by Republican majorities.
Volusia County Chair Ed Kelley, in particular has remained somewhat aloof about the coronavirus pandemic going back to Bike Week when Headline Surfer took to Facebook and asked poluticians and citizens alike if Bike Week should be shut down after President Trump declared a national emergency after World Health OrganiZation and the Centers for Disease Control classified the coronavirus a global pandemic.