5,266 people test positive for COVID-19 in latest report

State health officials reported 5,266 new positive result for COVID-19 pushed total diagnoses to 146,341 Monday as the rate of new cases continues to climb.

That’s another drop in newly confirmed cases from the 9,585 included in Saturday’s report. But that decline came in tandem with declining testing but another rise in the percent positivity rate, which Gov. Ron DeSantis says reveals a spreading pandemic.

Among the 41,626 people tested Sunday, 15.7% returned positive, a seventh consecutive day with that rate in the double digits. When accounting for those who weren’t previously known positive cases, 13.7% tested positive.

The drop in cases and testing is also in line with what health officials report on a typical weekend. Monday reports cover new cases identified between Sunday mornings and Monday mornings.

DeSantis has also said the growing pandemic is mostly, if not exclusively, limited to young Floridians. The median age of new cases plummeted from the 50s to the early and mid-30s in the last few weeks, returning Sunday to 37.

Daily fatalities have remained fairly consistent, with 28 new resident deaths lifting the death toll to 3,447. Another 99 non-Floridians have died in the state.

Officials confirmed 110 COVID-19 hospitalizations among Floridians, lifting the overall count to 14,354 throughout the pandemic.

In total, 1.9 million people have been tested for COVID-19 in the state.

While South Florida remains the largest hot spot of the virus, cases are also growing in Central Florida, Southwest Florida and the Jacksonville area.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,508 new cases in Miami-Dade County, where now 35,222 have tested positive. Broward County added 425 cases to reach 15,045 and Palm Beach County has 13,711 overall, including 322 more in Monday’s report.

Hillsborough County has 10,323 after receiving 405 new positives, crossing the 10,000 threshold. Cases in Pinellas County are also on the rise with 6,260 total, an increase of 240.

Orange County, another resurgent county, also crossed 10,000 cases, now with 10,014 after counting 343 new positives.

Duval County reports 5,839 total cases, an increase of 251. And Lee County shows 5,363 case, a jump of 175 cases.