By John Pacenti

Posted at 2:12 PM

The novel strain of the coronavirus, causing turmoil worldwide, took its first lives in Florida -- the first fatalities on the nation’s East Coast.
The Florida Department of Health announced late Friday that a Lee County woman and a Santa Rosa County man were the first fatalities of COVID-19.
The contagion also made its presence known in South Florida for the first time as the Health Department said two cases have been identified in Broward County.
Coronavirus: What Palm Beach County residents need to know