Staff Reports
More than 2,000 people have died with COVID-19 in Florida after state health officials reported 49 deaths Saturday.
Data from the Department of Health (DOH) shows 1,964 Floridians and 76 non-residents have died in the state, pushing the death toll to 2,040. Two of the fatalities reported since Friday’s update were non-residents.
And the percent positivity rate among new cases rose sharply Friday, from 4.70% to 7.05% as the state wraps its second week of Phase One. In the previous two weeks, that rate has averaged 3.83% and ranged between 1.83% and 5.23%.
Additionally, DOH registered only 7,631 results Friday, a far cry from the record-high 23,904 results on Monday.
In total, 44,811 people, including 43,607 residents, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the state, an increase of 673 Saturday morning. Another 187 residents and three non-residents in hospitals tested positive, raising the count of people sent to hospitals to 8,393.
Pinellas County became the eighth county in the state to cross 1,000 cases, now at 1,008 after confirming 11 cases since Saturday. And Washington County became the latest to record its first dead resident, a 53-year-old man who had traveled to Alabama.
The majority of new cases in recent weeks have come from the state’s hot spot counties in South Florida, which Gov. Ron DeSantis held back from reopening with the rest of the state. On Monday, Palm Beach County reopened, and Miami-Dade and Broward counties will reopen the upcoming Monday when the state enters its “Full Phase One.”
In the last 24 hours, 355 people in Miami-Dade County tested positive, raising the lifetime COVID-19 caseload to 15,366 people. Nine people died there since Friday’s report, raising the death toll to 568.
Broward County registered 68 new cases, raising its total to 6,201, and seven people died, lifting the death toll there to 300. Palm Beach County now has 4,440 cases after DOH showed 49 new cases there along with 286 total fatalities.
The other counties to cross 1,000 COVID-19 cases are Orange with 1,629, Hillsborough with 1,585, Lee with 1,401 and Duval with 1,259.
Now 875 residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have tested positive for the virus, up from 844 the day before. Now 521 long-term care facilities have residents with active COVID-19 cases.
The 7,631 new tests Friday raised the total number of people tested to 630,795. Another 1,676 await results from DOH-coordinated labs, but thousands more likely await private testing currently unknown to the state.
On Friday, the Governor outlined that the next reopening step would let restaurants seat up to 50% of their capacity with retail and museums also matching the 50% cap. Gyms will also reopen, and counties can submit their plans to reopen vacation rentals on a county-by-county basis.
11 comments
Anes11
May 16, 2020 at 2:22 pm
Weak and sick stay home. Everyone else, get back to work and stop this insanity. Green new deal and UBI nutcases trying to push their agenda.
Sonja Fitch
May 16, 2020 at 3:57 pm
Duffus Desantis. You worried yet to much to soon. The deaths mount! Test tests test until ALL have had at least one test! Masks or the Casket!that simple. Social distances and washing hands til better treatment or a vaccine. Omg the children and the damage done to them is scary! Peace and love
Margaret Blustine
May 16, 2020 at 5:01 pm
673 new cases saturday with 19 palm Beach sites closed Fri sat Sunday by de santis.miami Dade 480 way to add still is deadly open.trumps phase formula says all states can open if percent of daily tests positive lower than negative.thats always more negative than positive,trumps phases all 3 let therefore let any state unsafely open with a very high number positive daily new cases like fla has.has been 1038 on may 1 has only come to 800 plus before phase 1.that’s higher Saturday if he hadn’t stopped palm Beach testing.there’s a reason fla total case numbers deaths continually increase since beginning.fla has no control over virus no containment.east coast a month been increasing daily he opened now will jump much higher just as loose restrictions did south florida.because even looser now east coast with phase 2 starting with still 800 new cases DAILY.
800 daily is 4800 a week and 24000 more in 4 weeks.so in 4 weeks if as low as horrific high of 800 will be 68000 by June 15.unacceptable.800 will become 1000 then 2000 daily now will fast sickening workers ongoing til yrs.is senseless disaster and avoidable.dr faucI warned to little testing very little contact tracing will be catrosphic to economy and lives.trump and de santis doing it anyway.obviously now exposing 325 million people to exposure by many millions infected and unknown carriers america will self destruct by august.because by the horrific nations numbers of cases and deaths it’s been on a continuing path of self destruction.obviously killing elderly and disabled and worker age too many is not important to trump and now corrupted de santis.elderly are disposable to them by their actions as they voice lies.trumpsychotic job for 3 yrs was to prepare listen to his own experts and protect americans.he fired his experts.he didn’t and isn’t protecting americans with fedl fema resources etc.instead he did nothing put his job off onto unknowledgabe medically governors with no experts no resources.trump didn’t do his job.he’s still not doing his job but telling lies.he had warning from the beginning and from previous presidents left him instructions.all he cared abt was money not americans.he’s still doing that criminal negligence and presidentical incompetence.people want to live more than have a job.trump made the evil choice that americans can go to work and die.that’s criminal murderous irrational action using rigged phases to kill many millions by reopening an already self destructino america with deadly virus out of control.it’s his job in January February March april may to act protect americans with fast medical resources only he had.he didnt.he never did his job.he never will.he only çares abt money.he has no problem deliberately killing now many million of americans.but it will be for nothing and vastay criminal as too many workers will by August be unable work ongoing sickening for years.a mass murderer he will gain nothing.and america will torally crash very fast.elderly and workers under his phase plan and
Die
Ron
May 17, 2020 at 9:46 am
Mental health testing for some is clearly in order. Check your FLAPOL comments section for symptoms.
Sonja Fitch
May 16, 2020 at 3:58 pm
Duffus Desantis. You worried yet to much to soon til ter treatment or a vaccine. Omg the children and the damage done to them is scary! Peace and love
CP
May 16, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Seems like the only place there is a “surge” is where the most cases have been? So the rest of the state, which has reopened, has not surged at all, but continues to show no increase & in fact decreases from a month ago. Can you try to do more thorough reporting? “Cases surge in Dade as Phase I Counties continue to decline” would be more accurate.
John Kociuba
May 16, 2020 at 4:17 pm
If these hospitals, and media don’t stop lying about COVID 19 fatalities their CEOs should be prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. 1038, 18 U.S.C. 175, 2332 regarding FALSE INFORMATION & INTENT that cause death or MISINFORMATION ON BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS!
Funny how USDOJ will use full force of the treasury to prosecute James Jamal Curry but not NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo amongst dozens of other Demorat leaders including Anthony Fauci & Bill Gates.
Florida was fine! Floridians allowed “Alien, Foreign Bad Faith Actors” to destroy personal wealth and Costitutional rights.
Reb
May 17, 2020 at 11:03 am
OPEN UP THE STATE, WE HAVE TO GET BACK TO WORK, THE DEMOCRATS WANT THE ECONOMY TO FAIL, SO THEY CAN BLAME PRESIDENT TRUMP, IT IS ALL POLITICS, AND THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE KNOW THAT, TRUMP 2020!!!!!
Marshall
May 17, 2020 at 11:07 am
Stop this SCAM DEMIC nonsense already. The F**ing numbers DONT match up. This is over, another attempt by the left to mess up the country. Only this time they actually hurt hard working Americans, I hope head will roll over this one finally!
Kathie Babb-Neuhard
May 18, 2020 at 8:03 am
Over 30, 000 tests are tainted and will be trashed for those of us with advent health. Did they subtract that number?
Bonnie Lynn
May 18, 2020 at 8:34 pm
Most of us know that is not the real death till. They aren’t all being reported. Desantis is a trump kiss ass
Comments are closed.