Florida Reports Lowest Number of Coronavirus Cases in Three Months

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 15: A nurse seals a specimen bag containing a COVID-19 test
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Florida reported just more than 1,700 new cases of the Chinese coronavirus on Monday, representing the lowest number of daily cases reported in three months.

The state reported 1,736 cases of the virus on Monday, down from the 15,000+ daily cases reported in mid-July. The state’s seven day average of cases is also down by thousands, moving from 11,870 reported July 17 to 2,494 reported on Monday. The state also reported 36 coronavirus-related fatalities, although the number does not necessarily reflect recent fatalities. Rather, it includes those that could have occurred weeks ago but are just making it into the system.

In an update on Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) stated that coronavirus-related hospitalizations are down more than 70 percent since the state’s peak in July. Hospital capacity is sufficient, he continued, noting that 24 percent of all hospital beds are empty, as are 22 percent of ICU beds. Hospitalized patients with the coronavirus “represent less than 5% of total licensed beds in FL,” the governor added. The positivity rate, as of Monday, stood at 3.91 percent. Miami-Dade — the county hit hardest by the virus — is reporting a slightly higher positivity rate on new cases, standing at 4.18 percent:

Last week, Halsey Beshears, Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation secretary, announced that bars in Florida would reopen for in-person service at 50 percent capacity, which went into effect on Monday.

During a roundtable discussion this month, DeSantis said once the state moved to reopen bars, there should be “no turning back.”

The governor recently vowed that Florida will “never do any of these lockdowns again.”

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