Fisher Island in Florida buys thousands of coronavirus tests for its 800 families - Daily Mail

America's richest zip code buys coronavirus tests for all its millionaire residents: Florida's Fisher Island, where average income is $2.5m, makes antibody exams available for its 800 families - even though less than 1% of the state has been tested

• The luxury Fisher Island has purchased thousands of coronavirus tests for its private residents and workers
• About 800 families live on the exclusive island that's only accessible by boat or helicopter 
• Island officials tell DailyMail.com that over half the residents on island are over age of 60 
• Fisher Island is the wealthiest zip code in the US where club memberships cost $250,000 & average annual income was $2.5million in 2015 
• There are between five and nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Fisher Island's zipcode 33109  
• The island purchased finger prick antibody tests that check to see if a person has COVID-19 and has developed antibodies for it 
• Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID

By Marlene Lenthang For Dailymail.com

Published: 15:13 BST, 14 April 2020 | Updated: 22:42 BST, 14 April 2020

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A luxury private island in Florida has purchased thousands of coronavirus tests for its private residents and workers - even though only one percent of the state has been tested for COVID-19. 

Fisher Island, located off Miami, is the wealthiest zip code in the country, home to multimillion-dollar condos and about 800 families and is only accessible by boat or helicopter. Memberships to the Fisher Island Club cost about $250,000 and the average annual income was $2.5million in 2015, according to Bloomberg. 

Notable residents on the island include Hasbro Toys CEO Alan Hassenfeld, Yard House founder Steele Platt, tennis players Caroline Wozniacki and Boris Becker, former NBA player David Lee and Victoria Secret model Karolina Kurkova. Oprah Winfrey and Mel Brooks also had homes on the oasis. 

There are between five and nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Fisher Island's zipcode 33109, according to government data. 

The island purchased antibody tests, which is a blood prick used to determine if someone has been exposed to COVID-19 and if they have developed antibodies to it. 

In Florida overall there are over 21,000 cases of the virus and there have been 499 deaths as of Monday night. 

The luxury Florida private enclave Fisher Island has purchased thousands of coronavirus tests for its private residents and workers - even though only one percent of the state has been tested for COVID-19. An aerial view of the Fisher Island residential compound pictured above, across the water from the southern tip of Miami Beach

About 800 families live on the island and officials say over half the residents on island are over age of 60

The wealthy and exclusive island is located off Miami Beach and is reachable only by boat or helicopter

However, just like much of the country, there’s a shortage of testing and people who want a test must meet certain criteria to even be screened. Those without vehicles are unable to access drive-thru testing sites.

The island has ordered and paid for the testing kits so residents and workers who maintain and patrol the island can get tested for the virus. 

Sissy DeMaria, the spokeswoman for Fisher Island, tells DailyMail.com that half the island’s residents are over the age of 60, making them vulnerable to the contagious respiratory disease.

She explains that Fisher Island officials have established an island-wide disease surveillance and testing system with the University of Miami health system.    

'To further minimize spread on the densely populated island with half of the residents over the age of 60 and at high risk, Fisher Island asked UM Health Clinic to procure antibody testing for all employees and residents. Fisher Island is funding the cost of the testing which is underway now,' she said. 

Oprah Winfrey's former luxury four-bedroom Fisher Island condo pictured above. She sold her Florida 6,170-square-foot penthouse in 2001 for $6.5million. Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll then purchased it for $13.5 million in 2014

Notable residents on the island include Tennis great Boris Beck, 52, (left) and Alan Hassenfeld, 71, the CEO of Hasbro Toys from 1989 to 2008 (right)

Former Hasbro Toys CEO Hassenfeld snapped up his three-bedroom, three and a half bath residence in the Palazzo Del Sol luxury condominium complex (above) on Fisher Island for for $8.2million in 2017

A picture of a luxury condominium in the Palazzo del Sol where Hassenfeld lives pictured above

A view of the tennis courts attached to the Palazzo del Sol luxury condominium complex above

Czech model Karolina Kurkova, 36, lives on the elite island with husband Archie Drury and her two kids

The exterior of Kurkova's massive Fisher Island condo, which she moved into for $1.4million in 2012, pictured above

Memberships to the Fisher Island Club  (above)cost about $250,000 and the average annual income on the island was $2.5million in 2015

An aeriel view of the Fisher Island Club & Resort pictured above

Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki and husband NBA player David Lee also live together on Fisher Island. The couple purchased their waterfront five-bedroom and five and a half bathroom home that’s a part of the 43-unit Palazzo Del Sol complex, where Hassenfeld lives, for $13.5million in 2018

The antibody test is a blood prick used to determine if someone has been exposed to COVID-19 and has developed antibodies to it.   

'Fisher Island Club remains vigilant and continues to actively promote social distancing measures, is encouraging the use of face masks, has closed all Club amenities including golf/tennis/marina/restaurant (takeout only) facilities, and has restricted Island access to only essential personnel and visitors, in addition to all other steps recommended by the CDC, the State of Florida and Miami Dade County Executive Orders,' DeMaria said in a statement. 

The UHealth clinic says that testing and follow-up contact tracing for those who tested positive for COVID-19 will be completed this week.  

On the island there is a UHealth clinic where doctors administer the COVID-19 tests.   

'This is what the Fisher Island residents wanted. Our physicians ordered it for them, they paid for it themselves,' UHealth spokeswoman Lisa Worley said to the Miami Herald. 

It's not clear how much these tests cost nor how many people have been tested so far. 

A person familiar with Fisher Island’s testing, who wished to remain anonymous, said the test was offered to several Miami-Dade police offers who work there and results were available within 15 minutes. 

So far the antibody tests have not been made widely available in South Florida. 

The UHealth clinic says that testing and follow-up contact tracing for those who tested positive for COVID-19 will be completed this week. The Fisher Island Ferry pictured above

A person familiar with Fisher Island’s testing, who wished to remain anonymous, said the test was offered to several Miami-Dade police offers who work on the island and results were available within 15 minutes. A view of Fisher island from across the water in Miami beach pictured above

Fisher Island Beach Club's beach on Biscayne Bay pictured above

Earlier this month Miami-Dade county secured 10,000 blood tests that cost $17 a piece supplied by a company named BioMedomics from North Carolina.  

On Monday the first drive-thru testing site in Miami-Dade used these finger prick tests instead of the nasal swabs used at other sites – which is the preferred method to diagnose COVID 19.

However, that site only accommodated 200 appointments a day and the priority was given to seniors and first responders.

The UHealth clinic says that testing and follow-up contact tracing for those who tested positive for COVID-19 will be completed this week. The island purchased coronavirus antibody tests for its residents and employees. The antibody test is a blood prick used to determine if someone has been exposed to COVID-19 and has developed antibodies to it. Stock image of a test above

Medical personnel conduct coronavirus drive-thru testing outside Daytona International Speedway in Florida on April 10

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said that Fisher Island’s purchase of tests was separate from a COVID-19 blood testing program being administered by the county and University of Miami researchers which is testing a random sample of 750 residents each week. 

It's not clear yet how the rest of Florida is responding to Fisher Island's move to preserve their wealthy community, home to minor celebrities including retired tennis player Andre Agassi, Cagney & Lacey actress Sharon Gless, and billionaire Syntel founder Bharat Desai. 

Two lavish Fisher Island homes were included in the top five Miami-Dade residential sales reported last week. They include a $4.6million home spanning 4,590 square feet and a $2.7million condominium spanning 2,858 feet, according to the Miami Herald.  

Coronavirus antibodies do NOT guarantee immunity, doctors warn, as uncertainty over the testing that was supposed to get the world back to work grows

Doctors have made the terrifying claim that even if a person is found to have antibodies against COVID-19, it does not necessarily make them immune to the killer virus that has crippled the world. 

The tests look for two different antibodies - IgM and IgG. This is Genesystems' test

Many are hinging their hopes of reopening society and getting back to work on a so-called immunity 'passport' that means they have had the virus, recovered from it and cannot be reinfected because of antibodies in their blood. 

But none of the dozens of tests being rushed through production and scaled up around the world are full-proof. 

Some are not sensitive enough to detect the antibodies and some cannot differentiate them from antibodies against other illnesses. 

Now, doctors are warning that even if the test is nailed down, it might not serve in the way people think it will. 

'Just because you have antibodies doesn’t mean you have immunity,' Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of the Emory School of Medicine in Georgia, said on Friday. 

'Everybody is being optimistic you have some sort of sustained immunity for at least the ensuing months to a year. 

'But it is still somewhat an assumption,' Kelly Wroblewski, the Association of Public Health Laboratories’ director of infectious diseases, added in a statement to Politico.  

On Monday, officials from the World Health Organization admitted that they are not confident a person cannot be infected a second time too.

Island off Miami that has been named the wealthiest zip code in the US with a per capita income of $2.5million

In 2019 Fisher Island was named the wealthiest zip code in the United States, where the average income in 2015 was $2.5million per year. 

Located just a short boat ride away from Miami, an analysis conducted by Bloomberg shows that the highest per capita income of anywhere in the 50 states is the area whose zip code reads 33109.

Fisher Island, Florida is a 216-acre island that was once home to celebrities like media mogul Oprah Winfrey, actor Mel Brooks, retired tennis star Boris Becker, and Czech supermodel Karolina Kurkova.

It is also a preferred landing spot for wealthy foreigners who buy up pricey real estate.

The relative wealth of residents of Fisher Island is staggering. Of all zip codes in the US, Fisher Island was the only one where more than half of all tax returns showed an income of at least $200,000. 

It has approximately 700 families who own either a home or an apartment, but only a small fraction of them are actually there at a given time, according to Forbes.

That’s because Fisher Island is primarily a vacation haunt for the superrich, who only spend a few weeks or months at a time.

In February 2015, an unidentified buyer plunked down $35million for a seven-bedroom penthouse on the island, according to Mansion Global.

The buyer, reported to be a Russian businessman, then put the property back on the market in August 2015 for $38.5million.

Eventually, the property, with 9,715 square feet and a rooftop deck of 6,798 square feet, sold in May 2017 for $35million, The Real Deal reported.

Anyone visiting the island will need to be prepared to shell out some big bucks. The island is home to eight restaurants, among them several high-end steakhouses. All the restaurants charge residents’ expense accounts, so no cash changes hands, according to Forbes. 

There is also a nine-hole golf course, a bird-watching area, and 18 tennis courts that are made of the same grass as in Wimbledon and the same clay as in Roland-Garros.

As if that weren’t enough, the island boasts of a mile-long private beachfront with sand that was especially imported from Bermuda. Every morning, workers rake it.

Fisher Island as a home to multiple families is a relatively new concept. It was first created over 100 years ago as part of land reclamation projects in and around Miami Beach.

In 1925, William Vanderbilt II traded a luxury yacht for ownership of the island. After he died in 1944, the island was inherited by Edward Moore, a member of the Moore family which co-founded US Steel.

After Moore’s death, the island was sold to Gar Wood, a millionaire who invented hydraulic construction equipment. Wood’s family was the only one living on the island.

In 1963, Wood sold the island to a development group that included Richard Nixon, who would eventually become president in 1968.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that massive, widescale development on the island began in earnest.

Since then, it has become one of the most expensive areas in which to buy real estate.  

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