21 deaths, 843 new coronavirus cases reported overnight in Florida

State health officials confirmed 21 deaths and 843 new novel coronavirus cases overnight as the death toll in Florida approaches 200.

The Department of Health has now confirmed 11,111 coronavirus cases and 191 deaths after the state crossed 10,000 confirmed cases Friday. Of the total cases, 10,760 are among Florida residents and 1,386 people have been hospitalized, an increase of 52.

Bay, Escambia and Seminole counties recorded their first fatal cases overnight. Palm Beach County still leads the state with 34 deaths after an additional person passed away there, but nine people died in Broward County, raising the death toll there to 31.

Most of the state’s positive novel coronavirus cases are in South Florida, but the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas have become growing hot spots of the virus. DeSantis has said the first COVID-19 cases could have been in Florida weeks before the first case was confirmed last month and acknowledges community spread is underway in parts of the state.

All but five of the state’s 67 counties have positive cases, including travelers from out of state tested and isolated in those counties.

Miami-Dade County now has 3,667, or one third, of the state’s confirmed COVID-19 cases, an increase of 303 over Friday night’s report. Miami alone has 2,168 cases, up from 1,959 Friday.

And Broward County, now with 1,792 cases, added 194. Palm Beach County is also approaching 1,000 cases after confirming 127 overnight to put its tally at 908.

The state has now received more than 100,000 test results from federal, state, hospital and commercial labs. In addition to the 102,108 results, those of at least 1,281 tests are still pending. Some people have been tested multiple times.

Of the positive results, 1,020 traveled, 1,786 interacted with a confirmed case and 667 did both. The origin of 7,287 cases are still under investigation.

While the disease can be serious and deadly for anyone — the youngest fatality in the state was a 28-year-old man — the most at risk demographics are the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Of the state’s 11,111 cases, 209 are among long-term care facilities’ residents or staff, up from 185 in last night’s report and 143 that morning, constituting a 46% increase in 24 hours.

On Friday morning, Florida began its stay-at-home order at 12:01 a.m. amid confusion over what local lockdown rules are still valid. Several communities had issued their own orders while Gov. Ron DeSantis resisted calls to implement a statewide lockdown before finally announcing one Wednesday.

Nearly nine out of 10 Floridians support his decision, according to the most recent survey by St. Pete Polls, commissioned by Florida Politics. But trust in DeSantis dropped sharply since the same question was asked two weeks ago.

Nearly 29% of respondents said they trusted DeSantis “not very much” compared with just 19% in the previous poll. Meanwhile, only 40% showed significant trust in the Governor, down from 45% two weeks ago.

After Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried lambasted DeSantis for “failing to lead” during the coronavirus pandemic, Republican Party of Florida Chair Joe Gruters fired back, saying Fried “should be ashamed” of her “unseemly self-promotion.”

Below are the 21 individuals whose deaths were confirmed after the Friday evening report.

Bay: 1 total

— 93-year-old male

Broward: 31 total

— 83-year-old female who had contact with a known case

— 83-year-old male

— 97-year-old male

— 83-year-old male who had contact with a known case

— 34-year-old male

— 77-year-old male

— 74-year-old male

— 73-year-old male

— 72-year-old male

Escambia: 1 total

— 75-year-old female

Miami-Dade: 30 total

— 60-year-old person

— 73-year-old female

— 49-year-old male

— 88-year-old male

— 91-year-old male

Orange: 8 total

— 89-year-old male

Palm Beach: 34 total

— 75-year-old male who had contact with a known case

Polk: 4 total

— 84-year-old male

Seminole: 1 total

— 91-year-old male

Volusia: 2 total

— 78-year-old female who had contact with a known case and traveled to Ecuador