Analysis: Floridians with coronavirus traveled to 46 states, all but one continent before testing positive

Floridians who later tested positive for the coronavirus traveled to at least 46 states and every continent but Antarctica in the days and weeks before they were diagnosed, according to an analysis by USA Today. 

USA Today’s analysis of the Florida Department of Health’s travel data found that between March 2 and March 19, the number of cases that were travel-related outnumbered community spread. But once community spread kicked in, travel-related cases diminished to 17 percent of the new cases identified between March 20 and April 1.

The No. 1 domestic location for Floridians was New York, as at least 386 visited the state in the days and weeks before their diagnosis. Following New York, 87 people visited Colorado, 69 visited Georgia, 65 went to California and 58 headed to New Jersey.

Floridians did not travel to Maine, North Dakota or South Dakota in this time period, but some did visit Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

The top international locations include Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Mexico and the Bahamas. A total of 124 Floridians who later tested positive for COVID-19 visited Spain, which now has 146,690 confirmed cases of the virus, second to the U.S., and 14,555 deaths, second to Italy, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

None of these Floridians traveled to mainland China, but two people visited Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of China. 

The travel data extends from March 2 to the morning of April 2, when the majority of cases for people diagnosed were labeled as unknown. But the state’s department of health is still conducting investigations, so the data could update, according to an email from the Florida State Emergency Operations Center. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) ordered in late March that travelers entering Florida from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut must quarantine for two weeks. The governor issued a stay-at-home order last week.

Nationally, President Trump limited travel from China on Jan. 31 and then Europe on March 11. He later closed the U.S. borders between Canada and Mexico.