Second Sarasota Memorial Hospital patient tests positive for COVID-19

Sarasota Memorial Hospital announced a 67-year-old Manatee County woman tested presumptively positive for COVID-19, the second patient in the past two days to generate a positive test at the hospital.

The woman was admitted to SMH March 11 and placed into isolation, the hospital said in an email. State health officials are working to identify the cause of the infection and any individuals who may have come in contact with the woman and been exposed to the coronavirus disease.

In a separate release, the Florida Department of Health announced a 67-year-old Manatee County woman tested positive for COVID-19. The health department called it a travel-related case associated with domestic travel. Neither announcement definitively stated the two cases were the same.

SMH is working with the Florida Department of Health to identify individuals at the hospital who may have come into contact with the patient. Any people who may have been in contact with the patient will be asked to self-quarantine until more is known about the risk of exposure, the hospital said in the email.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.