Florida nears 25,500 confirmed coronavirus cases and 750 deaths as some beaches open
Florida added 739 new reported cases of COVID-19 and 22 deaths since Friday night, indicating a possible return to a fluctuation in reported cases. This comes a day after the state saw its highest number of new cases since the outbreak began.
Florida’s Department of Health reported the statewide case total at 25,492 and the death toll at 748. Since Saturday morning, cases increased by 223 and eight new deaths were reported.
The decrease in reported cases returns to a pattern of three consecutive days of fewer than 1,000 new cases that had ended with Friday’s spike. But the cause may also be that thousands of private lab test results are still pending.
The state’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard Saturday evening update also reported conflicting death data, making it unclear where county death tolls are at.
Miami-Dade County saw three new deaths since Friday evening, bringing its death toll to 198. But Broward and Palm Beach counties saw reductions in their death tolls.
Nine more deaths in Broward was first reported in Saturday morning’s update, raising the death toll to 116, but the evening update shows Broward’s death toll at 115. One less death.
Palm Beach County saw its death toll decrease by one in the Saturday morning update. It remained steady at 114 deaths in the evening update.
Of the total confirmed cases statewide, 24,797 are Florida residents and 695 are non-residents who were diagnosed or isolated in the state.
Health officials say the state has had a total of 3,745 hospitalizations relating to COVID-19 complications.
The statewide and county-level data for COVID-19 hospitalizations includes anyone who was hospitalized during their illness and “does not reflect the number of people currently hospitalized,” according to Florida’s Department of Health.
The department says it does not “have a figure” to reflect current hospitalization data.
It’s likely that the number of confirmed cases is significantly undercounted because the state reports only the number of Floridians waiting to hear test results from state labs, not private ones — and private labs are completing more than 90% of state tests.
The results of thousands of pending tests from private labs have taken as long as two weeks to be added to the state’s official count. The state’s website does not say its figures exclude the vast majority of pending tests for the novel coronavirus.
Easing restrictions
While Florida continues to see a daily increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, state and local officials say they are seeing signs that the social distancing measures put in place have been effective and are already forming plans to slowly ease COVID-19 restrictions.
Jacksonville, in Duval County, was the first to reopen its beaches in the state Friday afternoon with restricted times for use. St. Johns County followed on Saturday morning. Crowds flocked to the opened beaches and many complained social distancing rules were not being followed.
On Friday, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said he’s working on a plan to ease restrictions on parks, marinas, golf courses and beaches. More details would come next week as his administration works with medical authorities to finalize a course of action.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
As of Saturday evening, here’s what Florida’s Department of Health shows:
Miami-Dade County saw 79 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county total to 9,045. Health officials say 8,962 are residents, 82 are nonresidents and one is a resident who is not in Florida.
The age range of those who are reported as sick is from age 0 to 105. (Those in the zero age range are less than 1.) The median age is 49. Miami-Dade has had 866 hospitalizations and 198 deaths.
Broward County reported five additional confirmed cases of the disease, raising the county total of confirmed cases to 3,838. Health officials say 3,719 are residents and 198 are nonresidents. The sick range from 0 to 99, with a median age of 50. The county has had 115 deaths and 674 hospitalizations.
Palm Beach County had 13 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county total to 2,138. Health officials say 2,082 are residents, 54 are nonresidents and two are residents who are not in Florida.
The sick range from 0 to 104, with a median age of 56. The county held at 357 hospitalizations and 114 deaths.
Monroe County reported no new cases of the disease. The county has 73 known cases of COVID-19. Seven are nonresidents. The sick range from age 6 to 80. The median age is 51. The Florida Keys held steady with three deaths and nine hospitalizations.
An earlier version of this story reported incorrect numbers provided by the Florida Department of Health.
This story was originally published April 18, 2020 at 12:00 PM.
