Florida coronavirus cases rise to 11,545 with nearly 200 deaths

State health officials have now confirmed 11,545 coronavirus cases in Florida with nearly 200 deaths after the total number of cases rose 1,277 in 24 hours.

At least 1,470 people have been hospitalized and 195 have died since the pandemic was confirmed in the state last month. The total positives also include 372 non-Florida residents who have been tested and isolated in the state.

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.

Miami-Dade County is home to 3,890, or more than a third, of the state’s total cases, an increase of 526 cases. And Broward County has reported 1,765 cases, up from 1,598 the night before. Officials in Palm Beach County have confirmed 954 cases there, up from 781.

Palm Beach County leads the state with 35 fatal cases. Broward and Miami-Dade counties follow closely with death tolls of 32 and 31 respectively. The three counties and Monroe County reported one death each Saturday evening on top of the 21 deaths across the state confirmed this morning.

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

Now 231 of the state’s cases are among patients or staff members of long-term care facilities, up from 185 last night and 132 the night before.

The state has now received 105,994 test results from federal, state, hospital and commercial labs. In addition to the 102,108 results, those of at least 1,319 tests are still pending. Some people have been tested multiple times.

Of the positive results, 1,065 traveled, 1,882 interacted with a confirmed case and 695 did both. The origins of 7,531 cases are still under investigation.

Earlier Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response leaders called the state’s more than 100,000 tests an achievement.

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 a 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.

Below are the four individuals whose deaths were confirmed after the Saturday morning report.

Broward: 32 total

— 39-year-old male who had traveled to Illinois

Miami-Dade: 31 total

— 74-year-old female

Monroe: 2 total

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

Palm Beach County: 35 total

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