Mayor Hawkins stresses the need to follow the stay-at-home order
According to the Florida's COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard as of Wednesday, April 15, zip code 32535, which is primarily Century and surrounding areas, had five positive cases of COVID-19.
Following the discovery last week that there was one positive case of the virus in that zip code, Century Mayor Henry Hawkins issued a letter to residents and council members following Gov. Ron DeSantis' shelter in place order, outlining social distancing practices.
In the letter, Hawkins urged citizens to seek immediate medical attention if they had symptoms or had been exposed to anyone with the symptoms, avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and practice the 6-foot social distancing rule in public.
The FDOH said the total number of tests given in Escambia County so far are 3,876: positive results for 254 individuals, of which 235 were residents and 19 were non-residents. The remaining 3,617 were negative. The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Escambia County residents is four individuals. The remaining results were inconclusive or waiting/pending test results when this report was issued.
The case number is expected to change daily due to the return of results from ongoing testing, according to the FDOH (Florida Department Of Health). The FDOH-Escambia encourages residents and visitors to take steps to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19.
In the letter, Hawkins wrote 'Our goal is to keep all of our citizens safe. We understand the inconvenience and hardship this may cause for many families, but we must follow these guidelines for us to survive this pandemic.'
