Florida reports more than 12,500 new cases of COVID-19, with state’s total now surpassing 350K
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health reported 12,523 new positive coronavirus cases on Sunday.
The new cases bring Florida’s total number of COVID-19 cases since the virus was first detected in the Sunshine State in early March to 350,047.
[RELATED: UPDATE: See Florida’s curve when it comes to coronavirus cases]
The state is now also reporting the number of currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients through the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration dashboard. As of Sunday morning, 9,293 people were receiving treatment at medical facilities across the state due to complications from the novel coronavirus. A total of 20,971 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized in Florida since the start of the pandemic, numbers show.
According to the FDOH, 87 new coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the latest batch of data. On July 1, the Florida Department of Health began reporting resident and non-resident deaths as separate categories. The state reported a total of 4,982 resident deaths and 109 non-resident deaths in Florida on Sunday, for a cumulative total of 5,091 deaths since the pandemic began.
With the latest batch of numbers from the health department, Florida’s daily positivity rate, which is the number of new positive cases compared to those tested on a given day, stood at 11.85% Sunday.
Below is the state dashboard. If you are having trouble viewing the dashboard on mobile, click here.
The new numbers come one day after several Central Florida counties reported record numbers of new COVID-19 deaths.
On Saturday, Orange County set a new record for deaths reported in a single day with 14 deaths. Its previous high was nine deaths reported on July 15. Marion County also set a new record Saturday, reporting eight new deaths, compared to its previous record of three set on July 10. Polk County reporded 12 deaths Saturday. Their previous high was 10 on July 14. Seminole County also set a new high with eight COVID-related deaths. The county’s previous high was three.
Ranked 25th, Florida currently ranks in the top half of the nation for COVID-19 deaths per capita, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. The state hit a record last week with 133 deaths reported on Tuesday,then quickly broke that record with 156 deaths reported Thursday. There were 130 deaths reported Friday, making last week Florida’s deadliest since the COVID-19 outbreak began.
Here’s a county-by-county breakdown of coronavirus numbers in the Central Florida region:
| County | Total cases | New cases | Deaths | Hospitalizations | New hospitalizations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 4,222 | 162 | 50 | 281 | 6 |
| Flagler | 650 | 38 | 7 | 55 | 1 |
| Lake | 3,343 | 137 | 35 | 169 | 2 |
| Marion | 2,423 | 164 | 29 | 232 | 14 |
| Orange | 23,259 | 741 | 120 | 637 | 3 |
| Osceola | 6,010 | 285 | 38 | 264 | 4 |
| Polk | 9,524 | 494 | 174 | 663 | 22 |
| Seminole | 5,329 | 179 | 43 | 268 | 7 |
| Sumter | 827 | 40 | 21 | 108 | 6 |
| Volusia | 5,188 | 229 | 82 | 380 | 3 |
Here are three things to know about COVID-19 on Sunday:
1. Governor stands by order to reopen Florida’s schools.
DeSantis is still set on reopening Florida’s schools next month despite a letter from the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics sent to his office Thursday asking that he reconsider having the state’s school districts resume face-to-face learning this fall. The governor defended his plan on Saturday, saying distance learning just isn’t the same as in-person instruction and that the quality of education suffers in that format. He said schools need to have the option to hold in-person classes but the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees, as made clear in the letter to the governor. Despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases reported statewide, Florida is moving forward with plans to reopen brick-and-mortar schools. Florida Education Association president Fedrick Ingram talked about some of the challenges educators are facing ahead of the fall semester on this week’s episode of “The Weekly on ClickOrlando.com with Justin Warmoth.” Click here to learn more about each Central Florida school district’s plan for the upcoming semester.
2. Florida’s bars staying closed for now.
Schools may be reopening soon but until Florida’s COVID-19 curve flattens, bars won’t be, according to the state’s top business regulator. State officials stopped allowing the consumption of alcohol at Florida’s bars last month as coronavirus cases were spiking shortly after the establishments reopened from the first statewide shutdown. After a few weeks, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation officials said on Friday that “due to the continuing increase in positivity,” it’s still not time to let the drinks flow again just yet. Click here to learn more about the moratorium. You can also monitor Florida’s COVID-19 curve here.
3. Orange County’s economy slowly recovering.
It has been a rough couple of months for Central Florida’s tourist-driven economy but economic forecasters say it could finally be on a “slow,” “steady” rise to recovery. The hopeful news comes after data shows the pandemic devastating Orange County’s tourism economy in April, with local and state hotel occupancy rates bottoming out due to the area’s attractions being closed. More recent data shows things could finally be looking up following the reopening of some of the area’s largest theme parks. However, the already fragile economy could face new obstacles if coronavirus cases continue to spike. Here’s what one expert says will either make or break it for the second half of 2020.
To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter and go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.
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