Longboat relaxes some of its COVID-19 reactions

COVID-19 remains present in Longboat Key, though figures provided by state and local heath officials indicate the omicron variant's winter peak likely has passed, leading to the relaxation of some town concerns.

Among the changes immediately obvious in the town’s response:

• The temperature scanner and the pathway to it in Town Hall’s lobby are gone.
• Chairs in the Town Commission Chambers are no longer labeled and separated to encourage social distancing.
• Masks are no longer widely encouraged in indoor public spaces of town buildings.
• Town Manager Tom Harmer on Monday said he likely had delivered his last regular COVID-19 update during a town meeting.

As positivity rates and hospitalization figures continue their fall from January, town leaders have rolled back some restrictions while continuing to monitor local and state metrics and continue to follow Centers for Disease Control recommendations.

"Good news, obviously," Harmer said.

So far in March, seven cases of COVID-19 have been reported by Longboat Key residents compared to 47 in February and 195 in January. Positivity rates in Manatee and Sarasota counties have fallen below 5%, the town’s downward-trending trigger point for relaxed measures.

Likewise, hospitalizations connected to COVID-19 are down as are the percentages of intensive-care beds devoted to patients with COVID-19.

Harmer said that although CDC numbers often show a two-week lag from numbers reported locally, the region has been moved to the "moderate" transmission category from "substantial."

Mayor Ken Schneier said the positive COVID-19 news was even more positive, noting that the winter season’s crowds have arrived in full force in Southwest Florida.

"Even though they try to compare apples to apples, we know a lot more people are present," he said.

Not long after the first of the year, Longboat Key adjusted its COVID-19 procedures when cases of the omicron variant began spiking. With a local positivity rate of 16%-18% then in Sarasota and Manatee counties, the town reimplemented its temperature check station, set aside seats for the public at meetings and required masks for unvaccinated visitors indoors in common areas where social distancing was not possible.

According to public figures, the number of Longboat Key residents with at least one vaccine nearly equals the number of full-time residents. Visitors or part-time residents are not counted in those listings.

Sarasota County announced this week that the PCR drive-up testing facility at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota closed permanently on Sunday, making way for the Baltimore Orioles minor league spring training. Sites remain operating at the former Sarasota Kennel Club on Old Bradenton Road and the Robert L. Taylor Community Center at Myrtle Street and U.S. 301.