More than 20K Floridians infected in coronavirus pandemic

More than 20,000 Floridians have tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of a Monday report from the Department of Health.

Now 20,601 people in the state are confirmed with COVID-19, including 20,035 Florida residents, after officials confirmed 706 cases overnight. An additional nine Floridians passed away, now 470 total and 22 were hospitalized, now 2,694 total.

South Florida still has the largest caseload of the virus with about 58% of all cases confirmed in the state. But Orange County joined Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties as the only counties with more than 1,000 cases.

Still, South Florida’s caseload overshadows Orange County’s 68 new diagnoses that brought the count there to 1,017. In Miami-Dade, officials added 183 cases to the now 7,241 in the county. Miami alone has 4,357 cases, the only Florida city with more than 1,000 positive residents.

Broward County now has 3,105 positive diagnoses, an increase of 160 overnight, and Palm Beach County now has 1,691 cases, up from 1,646.

The nine fatalities confirmed overnight were concentrated in Palm Beach County, which was home to seven of the deceased. Brevard and Lee counties each had one resident pass away. Now 88 people have died in Palm Beach County, but Miami-Dade leads the state with 97 deaths.

An influential model from the University of Washington halved its prediction this weekend for the number of daily fatalities at the peak of the pandemic in Florida. Now, it suggests 112 could die per day in a peak now two weeks away, though a wide range still exists for daily deaths and new cases at the peak.

Now 962 residents and staff in long-term care facilities have tested positive, up from 905 last night. Gov. Ron DeSantis‘  administration has refused to list the impacted facilities and reportedly asked the Miami Herald’s lawyers to drop a lawsuit asking the administration to do so.

Below are the 9 deaths confirmed since Sunday’s evening report:

Brevard: 5 total

— 91-year-old female

Lee: 17 total

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

Palm Beach County: 88 total

— 84-year-old male

— 63-year-old male

— 74-year-old male

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

— 63-year-old male

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

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