1,371 people test positive for COVID-19, another 38 deaths

State health officials reported an additional 1,371 new COVID-19 cases and 38 deaths tied to the virus Wednesday.

In total, 67,371 people have been diagnosed with the disease in the state and 2,889 people have died. Those fatal cases include 88 non-Floridians, two of whom were confirmed dead since Tuesday’s report.

Department of Health (DOH) data also shows that 11,621 people have been hospitalized with the disease, including 276 non-residents.

On Tuesday, the state reported 1,096 new cases of the novel coronavirus in its 10 a.m. report, which included cases from both Tuesday morning and part of the day prior. But throughout the day, officials confirmed 1,252 new cases, extending the streak of more than 1,000 daily COVID-19 cases to eight days beginning June 2, the longest since the disease was confirmed in the state in March.

This week, Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the rising number of new cases, arguing the state is now testing three times as many people as it was in early April, the last time DOH was consistently reporting 1,000 new cases per day.

While a smaller share of those tested are returning positive now compared to April, the two-week average rate of people who tested positive for the first time has grown from 2.8% to 3.8% throughout the still-young Month of June. DeSantis has touted the daily new positivity rate, which eliminates follow-up tests for people who already had the virus, as his preferred metric to evaluate the state’s progress in battling COVID-19.

DOH received test results for 23,841 people Tuesday. As of Wednesday’s report, 1.3 million individuals have been tested for COVID-19 in Florida.

Florida has received as many as 77,934 individuals’ results in a single day, but DeSantis and Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz have said the demand for tests falls short of the state’s expanded testing apparatus.

South Florida’s Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties still remain the state’s largest hot spots of the virus since DOH officials confirmed the first two Florida cases three months ago and did not enter Phase Two together with the state’s 64 other counties.

Since Tuesday’s report, 297 people in Miami-Dade County have tested positive, raising the overall COVID-19 caseload there to 20,277 people. Ten Miami-Dade residents were confirmed dead, raising the death toll there among Floridians to 774 and 797 total.

Broward County registered 158 new cases, raising its total to 8,193, and three residents died there, raising the death toll among residents to 349, plus 21 non-residents. Palm Beach County is approaching Broward’s count with 7,678 cases after DOH showed 160 new reports and nine resident deaths, now 397 total with an additional 13 non-resident deaths.

Hillsborough County on Wednesday became the fourth county with 3,000 cases, with 3,027 total. Three others have more than 2,000 COVID-19 cases: Orange with 2,542, Lee with 2,422 and Collier with 2,230. Four more have upward of 1,000 cases: Duval with 1,848, Pinellas with 1,746, Polk with 1,287 and Manatee, surpassed by Polk Tuesday, with 1,245.

Martin County is the next closest to crossing that threshold, now with 958 cases. Escambia County has 915 cases.