More than 1K Floridians dead from COVID-19 as caseload crosses 30K

More than 1,000 Floridians have died due to complications from COVID-19, according to Department of Health data released Friday.

The department (DOH) has confirmed more than 30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus in Florida throughout the pandemic.

With 526 new cases since Thursday evening’s report, the state has had 30,174 total cases, including 818 non-Floridians tested and isolated in the state. And with 25 fatalities reported since the evening, 1,012 Floridians have died. In total, 4,699 Floridians have been hospitalized, an increase of 59 over Thursday.

Deviating from the declining trend of coronavirus cases that Gov. Ron DeSantis has been highlighting, 1,261 people tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time Thursday. But with a record-setting 21,298 people tested, the percentage of positive cases, including some people who previously tested positive, among the total tests remained steady at 10%.

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

In South Florida, the state’s continued hot spot of COVID-19, the percentage of positive tests remains higher, the Governor says. 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, 10,701 have tested positive, an increase from 10,588 Thursday evening, and eight died, raising the county’s death toll to 278. In Broward County, no additional Floridians died, still 157 total, but 4,570, up from 4,431, people have tested positive. In Palm Beach County, 2,586, up from 2,554, have tested positive and 149, up five since Thursday, have died.

Now 317,540 individuals have tested for COVID-19 in the state. Another 1,287 await results from department-coordinated labs, though likely thousands more have results pending in private labs.

DeSantis’ Re-Open Florida Task Force working groups began their final meetings Friday before presenting their recommendations for the short term. Over the weekend, the Governor’s director of policy will transcribe those recommendations before the task force approves the final draft early next week.

On Thursday, Democrats criticized the Governor for the state’s failure to test in African American and Hispanic communities. Leading House Democrats called for a Special Session, which DeSantis has resisted, to address the pandemic’s impact on unemployment, Medicaid expansion and elections.

Nationally, the COVID-19 death toll is over 50,000 as of Friday.