State reports 1,096 new coronavirus cases

Florida officials: Almost 2,800 have died so far

Florida’s newly reported cases of coronavirus topped 1,000 on Tuesday, bringing the state’s total since the beginning of the pandemic to at least 66,000.

The latest figures from the Department of Health show 1,096 more cases of the new coronavirus since Monday. Starting a week ago, the state has had only one day with fewer than 1,000 new cases.

Of the new coronavirus cases over the previous 24 hours, half are in South Florida. That represents a slight shift; since the beginning of the pandemic, 54% of the state’s cases have been in Broward, MiamiDade and Palm Beach counties. Florida officials also reported Tuesday that at least 2,765 people in the state have died from the new coronavirus, 53 more than on Monday. South Florida leads the state in the number of people who have died from coronavirus-caused illness. Broward, MiamiDade and Palm Beach counties have had at least 1,508 coronavirus deaths. That number is 25 more than the day before.

The number of people tested daily has been rising since late May, but so has the number of tests coming back positive. The state has been coming out of lockdown for the past month or so, although there are tighter restrictions in South Florida, which accounts for the largest number of cases.

State reports show the three counties accounted for 35,551 cases as of Tuesday, an increase of 542 over the previous 24 hours.

Tuesday’s Department of Health reports show:

Miami-Dade County, the Florida coronavirus hot spot, had 19,980 cases on Tuesday. That is an increase of 224 from Monday. The number of Miami-Dade County deaths is listed as 774, seven more than Monday. Miami-Dade County which has 13% of the state’s population, has 30% of the state’s cases and 28% of the deaths.

Broward has had 8,053 cases, 129 more than Monday. It has had 346 deaths, three more than the day before.

Palm Beach County has had 7,518 cases, 189 more than Monday. It has had 388 deaths, 15 more than on Monday. Palm Beach County has 7% of Florida’s population, but it accounted for 17.2% of the new coronavirus cases reported over 24 hours.

On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said people in Palm Beach County don’t seem to be as inclined to wear masks as people in Miami and in Broward, and he cited an outbreak in the agricultural areas of western Palm Beach County where many farmworkers live in close quarters.

The state reported 11,185 people have been treated in Florida hospitals for COVID-19 illness since the beginning of pandemic-related record-keeping, an increase of 177 since Monday. South Florida has had 6,219 hospitalizations, an increase of 88 over the previous 24 hours.

Of the 32,676 people for whom test results came back on Monday, the state reported 5.6% were positive.

In the last two weeks, the statewide positive percentage has ranged from 3.7% to 8.3%.

In Broward, 4.2% of the results that came back on Monday were positive. Over two weeks, it has ranged from 2% to 6.3%.

In Miami-Dade County, the results Monday were 5.1% positive. Over two weeks it ranged from 3.6% to 7.8%.

In Palm Beach County, 7.3% of the results that came back Monday were positive. Over two weeks, it ranged from 3.5% to 10.6%.

SUSAN STOCKER/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL Memorial Regional healthcare workers wear masks as they attend a prayer vigil for George Floyd on Monday.