Florida sees jump in COVID-19 cases; now fourth-highest in U.S. deaths

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida has moved past New Jersey to have the fourth-highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the country, according to totals posted Thursday on a Johns Hopkins University website that tracks national and international data.

The website showed Florida with 16,267 COVID-19 deaths, four more than New Jersey.

The Florida total does not include 203 non-residents who have died of COVID-19 in the state, according to numbers from the Florida Department of Health.

New York has had the most COVID-19 deaths, with 33,377, the Johns Hopkins website shows.

It was followed Thursday by Texas, with 17,656 deaths, and California, with 17,238 deaths.

LINK: County-by-county Florida coronavirus cases and ZIP code map

Source: Fla. Dept. of Health

The Florida Department of Health says the number of known cases of COVID-19 in the state rose by 5,557 Thursday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 768,091.

The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 16,267, an increase of 57 since Wednesday's update. In addition, a total of 203 non-Floridians have died in the state. 

Despite a steadily growing number of COVID-19 cases in Florida communities, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced the state will begin allowing outdoor visitation at long-term care facilities, regardless of whether the facilities have COVID-19 infections.

Indoor visitation at nursing homes and other facilities will still be tied to COVID-19 infection rates of facility residents and staff members.

The state changes will also allow children to visit long-term care residents, with the governor noting during an appearance in Fort Myers that children “aren’t particularly vectors.”