Florida health officials report 1K new COVID-19 cases, 60 deaths Thursday

State health officials reported 1,072 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 60 fatalities Thursday.

Now 29,648 people have tested positive, including 805 non-Florida residents, and 987 Floridians have died and 4,640 hospitalized, up from 4,455 as of Wednesday.

The number of positive cases reported in Florida continues to decline or, at the very least, has reached another plateau. Out of 12,637 test results returned Wednesday, 729 people were identified with the coronavirus.

Since April 12, not including Thursday, only two days have had more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases identified, coinciding with days of significantly more testing. Some cases reported Thursday were confirmed on Wednesday after the evening report. Friday morning will reveal if Florida, technically with 712 cases so far, will be the third day to cross 1,000 cases.

The number of new coronavirus cases peaked on April 3, when just over 1,300 people tested positive.

The share of positive tests in the number of total tests received has also been dropping, if incrementally. In recent days, the number of positive results has bounced between 9% and 10% after hovering closer to 12% in past weeks.

But in South Florida, the state’s continued hot spot of COVID-19, the percentage of positive tests remains higher. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties alone account for nearly three fifths of the state’s coronavirus cases, and that proportion has been growing.

In Miami-Dade County, 10,588 have tested positive, an increase from 10,289 Wednesday evening, and 18 died, raising the county’s death toll to 270. In Broward County, 4,431, up from 4,254, people have tested positive and 157 died, an increase of 10. In Palm Beach County, 2,554, up from 2,413, have tested positive and 144, up 9 since Wednesday, have died.

More than 300,000, now 301,721, individuals have been tested for COVID-19 in the state. Another 1,329 await results from department-coordinated labs, though likely thousands more have results pending in private labs.

Thursday was the penultimate day of the Re-Open Florida Task Force industry working group meetings. On Friday, the task force will hand its recommendations to Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ director of policy to be transcribed before the task force approves the final draft early next week.