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Florida’s governor defends coronavirus response
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Florida did not follow federal guidelines in re-opening, but Governor DeSantis responded by saying he did the right thing based on how he read the data.
TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health says the number of known cases of COVID-19 in the state rose by 12,624 since yesterday morning as the virus spreads and as more people are tested across the state. The total number of cases in Florida is now 282,435.
The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 4,277, an increase of 35 since Sunday's update. Another 104 non-Floridians have died in the state. Locally, Pinellas County reported seven new deaths, Manatee noted two, while Citrus, Pasco, and Polk each reported one.
Of the 282,435 cases, 278,667 are Florida residents while 3,768 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.
Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:
- Hillsborough: 19,828
- Pinellas: 11,442
- Sarasota: 3,219
- Manatee: 5,266
- Sumter: 679
- Polk: 7,630
- Citrus: 607
- Hernando: 909
- Pasco: 4,060
- Highlands: 557
- DeSoto: 886
- Hardee: 595
Florida resident cases in orange; Florida resident deaths in gray. Source: Fla. Dept. of Health.
The state is not reporting a total number of "recovered" coronavirus patients. As of Monday, 8,038 Floridians were currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19; in total, 18,498 have been hospitalized for treatment at some point.
A total of 2,642,613 people have been tested in the state as of Monday -- about 12.3% of the state's population -- according to the Florida Department of Health.
LINK: County-by-county Florida coronavirus cases and ZIP code map
Source: Fla. Dept. of Health
Monday's total new case number represents the 41st straight day with new cases near or over 1,000 per day.
The rate of positive new tests has increased during that time period. It was at 11.51% on Sunday, the most recent date available.
Source: Fla. Dept. of Health
Experts say the current spike is partly due to more tests being given, but also a result of reopening the state.
Gov. Ron DeSantis says the recent case increases are largely due to testing of "high-risk" individuals like farmworkers in the state's rural counties, prisoners, and residents of long-term care facilities, though he has more recently noted the "erosion" in social distancing, especially among the younger demographics in social setting. That prompted him to order all bars to cease serving alcohol.
While the number of new cases has trended up over the last few weeks, the number of deaths has begun to reflect the same upward trend -- though "significant delays" in data reporting, as the state says, make interpreting short-term trends from that statistic less reliable.
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Experts explain how Florida counts COVID-19 deaths
Health experts say the daily number of deaths reported by the state does not reflect the actual amount of deaths on that exact day.
Editor's note: The number of new cases and deaths reported each day does not necessarily reflect the day that the case was confirmed. The state says some private testing labs dump large batches of test results which include cases from previous days. Stats for today and previous days will likely change in the future as the state reviews more cases and updates retroactive data.
The state's number of deaths represents permanent Florida residents who have died from COVID-19.
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If you feel sick:
The Florida Department of Health has a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions around the clock. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.
LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website
CORONAVIRUS IN FLORIDA: What you need to know
AROUND THE WORLD: CoronavirusNOW.com
Map of known COVID-19 cases:
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