Two new coronavirus deaths reported in Florida since Tuesday morning

There are now 1,467 positive cases of the novel coronavirus as of Tuesday evening and two more deaths in Florida. That’s 240 more positive cases since Monday evening’s update. Of the total cases, 1,379 are Florida residents.

The death toll from COVID-19 stands at 20. The two new deceased cases are from Pinellas and Lee counties.

Miami-Dade County leads the state with 367 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus while Broward County has 312. Palm Beach County has 104 positive results and Hillsborough County has 95.

The state has now tested 16,046 individuals and received 13,358 negative results. At least 1,221 results are still pending.

The explosion of cases over the weekend and into this week may be in part be attributed to Florida’s growing testing capabilities as it sets up drive-thru testing sites throughout the state. Federal Emergency Management Agency drive-thru sites have been established in Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando. Other state supported sites are also been set up. DeSantis visited the operation at The Villages on Monday.

While Gov. Ron DeSantis has decided against a statewide stay-at home order, several localities are issuing them. Leon County and Tallahassee residents will be ordered to stay at home Wednesday starting at 11 p.m. The Orange County order goes into effect Thursday at 11 p.m. and runs through April 9 at 11 p.m.

Orange follows a number of other counties and cities that have also taken similar actions in recent days, Alachua County, Gainesville and Tampa. Those actions have rolled out as Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly resisted calls to implement a state-wide order.

Demings said Osceola County expects to announce a similar order Tuesday or Wednesday, and he and Dyer expressed hope that other Central Florida counties would soon follow.

The governor said Tuesday he will sign an additional executive order Tuesday cracking down on people fleeing New York’s shelter-in-place order for Florida. Anyone who has traveled from the New York City area in the past three weeks will need to self-isolate, the Governor said Tuesday. Additionally, they must notify officials of people they’ve had contact with since arriving and alert those people as well.

New York has more than 20,000 positive cases of novel coronavirus. More than 150 people there have died.