Emotional support is available during the coronavirus emergency

Gulfport, Florida beach panorama. The beach is closed due to social distancing measures for coronavirus — Empty Gulfport Beach is closed because of coronavirus. By Seán Kinane / WMNF News (8 April 2020).

Here is a link to many coronavirus resources

Social distancing is one of the best ways to keep the coronavirus from spreading out of control, but people are missing that personal connection and need emotional support.

April Lott is a licensed clinical social worker and President/CEO of Directions for Living. That group is partnering with Pinellas County with an emotional support line.

Their Emotional Support call line is 727-524-4464 x. 1001

Leave a voice mail and they’ll return it within a couple of hours, seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

This line is for emotional support only. If you have a life-threatening emergency, call 911.

For a mental health emergency in Pinellas, call 727-541-4628.

For resources, call 211.

Listen to the full show here.

According to the Florida Department of Health website, updated Monday morning, there are now more than 20,600 positive coronavirus cases in the state. The number of new cases each day seems to have leveled out over the last week or so at between about 800 and 1,300 per day. 461 people have died in Florida. Nearly 2,700 people are hospitalized, a number that continues to grow.

The Hillsborough County Health Department is reporting that since Friday, six more residents died in the county who tested positive for COVID-19.

Here’s the county-by-county breakdown of the number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the Tampa Bay area:

In Hillsborough, there are 790 (with 16 deaths), in Pinellas 470 (with 13 deaths). There are 250 in Manatee (with 13 deaths), 230 in Sarasota (with 12 deaths), 117 in Charlotte, (with 5 deaths), 166 in Pasco (with 3 deaths), 71 in Hernando (with 2 deaths), 72 in Citrus (with 6 deaths) and 263 in Polk (with 8 deaths).

The CDC updated its coronavirus numbers Sunday afternoon. There have been nearly 20,500 deaths in the U.S. – that’s almost 6,000 deaths since Friday. There are now more than 525,000 positive COVID-19 cases in the country, that’s an increase of more than 65,000 since Friday.