State virus cases increase for a fifth straight day

Florida reported an increase of 1,180 new coronavirus cases Sunday — the fifth day in a row of more than 1,000 new cases in the state.

The Department of Health reported the state reports Florida now has 63,938 cases. By comparison, last weekend the state reported an increase of 739 cases from Saturday to Sunday.

Of the new coronavirus cases over 24 hours, 44% are in South Florida. 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 Sunday that at least 2,700 people in the state have died from the new coronavirus, 12 more than on Saturday.

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 at least 1,476 coronavirus deaths. That number is seven more from 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 34,581 cases as of Sunday, an increase of 518 over the previous 24 hours.

Sunday’s Department of Health reports show:

Miami-Dade County, the Florida coronavirus hotspot, had 19,547 cases on Sunday. That is an increase of 248 from Saturday. The number of Miami-Dade County deaths is listed as 765, unchanged from Saturday. MiamiDade County which has 13% of the state’s population, has 30.1% of the state’s cases and 28.3% of the deaths.

Broward has had 7,804 cases, 114 more than Saturday. It has had 339 deaths, five more than the day before.

Palm Beach County has 7,230 cases, 156 more than It has had 372 deaths, more than on Saturday.

The state reported 10,942 people have been treated in Florida hospitals for COVID-19 illness since the beginning of pandemicrelated record-keeping, an increase of 51 since Saturday. South Florida has had 6,102 hospitalizations, an increase of 22 over the previous 24 hours. had Saturday. two

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @browardpolitics