Florida sees 49 more coronavirus deaths

Florida experienced the biggest surge of new coronavirus cases in over two months, according to state data released Thursday.

The one-day total of 1,698 people diagnosed with infections was the most since March 30, records show. And there have been over 1,000 new cases counted on eight out of the past nine days.

The Department of Health’s latest totals show 69,069 people have been infected, with 2,938 dying, since the outbreak began. That’s an increase of 49 deaths in the past 24 hours. The death toll includes 90 non-residents.

But the rising number of cases corresponds with a steady rise in the number of COVID-19 tests, compared with the same period a month ago. And despite the higher case counts, the percentage of positive tests is dropping.

Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters there’s no evidence of a dangerous spike in cases, as the state continues its phased-in reopening of businesses and recreation programs. He said the main hot spots are nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities.

“You’re seeing widespread testing and 98 percent of the people from the general public come back negative,” the governor said during a visit to Melbourne. “We are doing very well with this. … We’ve seen no increase in hospitalizations. It’s been basically flat.”

The state says 1.3 million people have been tested so far for COVID-19, and about 5.3% have tested positive. It’s higher in South Florida, where 7.9% of the tests have been positive.

The percentage of people diagnosed with the disease is lower than it was four weeks ago, when it stood at 7% statewide and 10% in the region that includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Deaths and testing trends in South Florida

The death toll now stands at 813 in Miami-Dade, 420 in Palm Beach County and 372 in Broward, the state said. Miami-Dade had a one-day increase of 15 deaths.

In the three counties, reports show there have been 36,772 infected individuals since the outbreak began.

There have been 624 new cases in the last day.

Still, the percentage of people diagnosed with the disease in South Florida is lower than it was four weeks ago.

As of Thursday, Miami-Dade County had tested 219,104 people, and 9.4% of those tests were positive for COVID-19. But on May 14, 12% of those swabbed were confirmed positive in that county.

The results that came back on Thursday were 5.8% positive. Over two weeks it ranged from 3.6% to 7.8%.

In Broward, there have been 133,088 people tested so far, according to the reports. Of those, 6.3% were positive, a drop from 9% on May 14.

The results Thursday were 6% positive. Over two weeks, it has ranged from 2.3% to 6.7%.

And in Palm Beach County, there have been 98,722 tests, with 8% positive. That’s down slightly from 9% four weeks ago.

Also in Palm Beach County, 10.6% of the results that came back Thursday were positive. Over two weeks, it ranged from 4.3% to 10.6%.

Two more key facts about the pandemic in Florida:

Records show that 50.6% of the fatalities in total have been in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. There have been 10,539 cases among residents and staff.

So far, 11,571 people have been treated in Florida hospitals for COVID-19 illness. That’s an increase of 3,822 people over the past four weeks.

U.S., global view

The coronavirus death toll in the United States reached 112,925 on Thursday morning, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.

The U.S. now has 2 million coronavirus cases, the most of any country in the world. There have been at least 42,919 deaths in the national hot spots of New York and New Jersey.

Johns Hopkins University has also reported 7.4 million cases worldwide. At least 417,377 people have died. Brazil has the second-highest number of cases, with 772,416.