Florida recorded its highest-ever single-day increase of Chinese coronavirus cases on Sunday for both the state and nation, reporting 15,300 new cases, followed by 12,624 cases on Monday. A closer look shows that three counties in South Florida account for nearly 43 percent of the state’s total number of cases.
The coronavirus rate has risen in Florida over the last month as testing has exponentially increased in the Sunshine State. Florida has tested over 12 percent of its population of over 21 million, administering 2.6 million tests. The bulk of those, 1.6 million, have been conducted in the last six weeks alone.
On Monday, the state reported a positivity rate of 11.5 percent, down from the roughly 19 percent moving average seen last week although up from the five percent positivity rate seen several weeks ago.
After breaking a national record on Sunday, Florida reported 12,624 new cases of the virus on Monday, bringing the state’s rolling total to 282,435.
Over 43 percent of the new cases reported on Monday stemmed from Miami-Dade, Broward, and West Palm Beach alone — a trend that is consistent on the larger level of total cases across the state. Those three counties account for nearly 43 percent of all cases across the state. As of Monday, Miami-Dade reported 67,713 total cases, followed by Broward with 31,484, and West Palm Beach with 21,806.
Nearly 50 percent of all cases stem from South Florida when Monroe, Collier, Hendry, and Lee counties are — counties that round out the southern tip of the state.
While cases have continued to rise exponentially, the fatality rate continues to remain relatively low. Thirty-five additional fatalities were reported on Monday, bringing the state’s resident death toll to 4,277 and bringing the death rate to 1.5 percent.
The state has also seen 18,498 total hospitalizations. Nearly 49 percent of those hospitalizations stem from Miami-Dade, Broward, and West Palm Beach counties.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) addressed the recent critiques of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said that some states such as Florida “just opened up too quickly” last week.
“I think there was really no justification to not move forward,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Orlando on Friday, pointing to the low positivity rate in May.
DeSantis has since restricted bars, preventing them from selling alcohol for on-site consumption — a decision he does not yet plan to roll back.
“So, right now, we’re not making any changes, status quo,” DeSantis said on Saturday.
“We want to get this positivity rate down. We want to continue to, you know, hopefully see declining COVID-like illness visits at the (emergency departments). And then as we get in a more stable situation, then we’ll take a look at it,” he added.
Despite the rising number of cases in Florida, Walt Disney World kicked off its phased reopening on Saturday, opening up Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, albeit with safety changes to basic park operations and certain restrictions on staff and guests. Thousands flocked to the world-renowned amusement parks over the weekend. Disney’s Epcot and Hollywood Studios are expected to follow, opening their doors on Wednesday, July 15.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.