State: 38K COVID-19 cases, 1,500 deaths

South Florida leads state in number of fatalities from virus

At least 1,539 people in Florida have died from the new coronavirus, the state Department of Health reported Wednesday. That represents an increase of 68 over 24 hours.

South Florida leads the state in the number of people who have died from coronavirus-caused illness. Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties have had 866 deaths, 39 more than the day before.

Florida officials also reported Wednesday that number of coronavirus cases in the state has reached 38,002. The number of cases in the state is 533 greater than it was on Tuesday.

State reports show Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties accounted for 22,404 cases as of Wednesday, an increase of 298 over the previous 24 hours. There have been 866 deaths in the three counties, an increase of 39 from the day before.

Miami-Dade County, the Florida coronavirus hotspot, has 13,371 cases and 432 deaths, the Department of Health reported. The number of Miami-Dade County

deaths is 25 more than it was on Tuesday.

Miami-Dade County has 35% of the state’s cases and 28% of the deaths, but just 13% of Florida’s population.

The coronavirus death toll in the United States stood at 71,079 on Wednesday morning, including at least than 25,124 victims in the national hot spot of New York. The country’s total number of cases has now surpassed 1.2 million.

The Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center reported 3.7 million cases worldwide. More than 258,000 people have died.

The United States has 4.3% of the world’s population and 32.7% of the world’s cases.