Florida coronvirus cases top 9,000, deaths rise to 144

Florida’s number of positive novel coronavirus cases topped 9,000 Thursday evening as the number of deaths also jumped again.

The Department of Health officials confirmed 144 deaths from COVID-19, a rise of 43 from 101 in just 24 hours. The number of positive cases crossed 8,000 Thursday morning. Positive cases spiked nearly 1,000, from 8,010 to 9,008 between around 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday. The number of people hospitalized totals 1,167.

Miami-Dade County has 2,886 COVID-19 cases, the most in the state. Broward County is in second with 1,481 and Palm Beach County has 737 cases.

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a statewide stay-at-home order that begins just after midnight.

But then he issued a new order clarifying and amending the original one late Wednesday following reports, including one from Florida Politics, that local ordinances with more restrictive language would not be preempted.

That specifically pertains to a religious exemption that allows churches to continue holding services even if those congregations exceed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guideline on social distancing that limits gatherings to 10 or fewer individuals.

DeSantis’ updated order removes language that provided an exception for local ordinances that went beyond the state order.

Those more restrictive local measures, which have been approved in a host of Florida cities and counties, will no longer be valid.

The clarification is a huge deal in Hillsborough County where a Brandon megachurch pastor was arrested this week for holding church services in violation of a local ordinance prohibiting gatherings of 10 or more people, though at least one county official doesn’t see it being a problem.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister and State Attorney Andrew Warren issued a warrant for Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne’s arrest earlier this week after he hosted a Sunday morning worship service with 300-500 parishioners despite “educational” outreach from the Sheriff’s office urging him not to and cautioning that such a gathering would violate the county’s safer at home order.

Howard-Browne later turned himself in and then bonded out of jail and is now back at home, potentially planning more services this weekend.

Under DeSantis’ revised order, there is nothing to stop him from legally hosting a large congregation.

Local governments had been acting on local safer-at-home orders as DeSantis held out on issuing a statewide order. In Hillsborough, that order blocked large gatherings without any carve-outs for religious activity, the idea being that such gatherings were dangerous to public health.

Health officials warn that individuals could have the COVID-19 disease or the novel coronavirus that causes it without knowing they are infected, which puts others at risk as those people continue regular activities like grocery shopping unaware of their illness.

That contagion risk means individuals who attend large church gatherings could spread the disease to countless others, who could then jeopardize others within the community.

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Janelle Irwin Taylor contributed to this report.