What to Know
- Florida reported 1,371 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, along with 36 new virus-related deaths
- Miami-Dade's case total rose above 20,000 for the first time
- Statewide, more than 1,280,000 people have been tested for COVID-19, with the percent positive around 5.3%
Florida's number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by more than 1,300 Wednesday, as the state reported three dozen new virus-related deaths.
With 1,371 new COVID-19 cases, the state's total rose to 67,371, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health.
Another 36 new deaths related to the virus were confirmed, bringing the state's total to 2,801.
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Miami-Dade County's case total rose to 20,277, out of 214,841 tested, or about 9.4% positive. The county's virus-related deaths rose to 784.
In Broward County, there were 8,193 COVID-19 cases reported out of 130,744 tested, or about 6.3% positive. The county had 349 virus-related deaths, three more than Tuesday's total.
Palm Beach County had 7,678 cases and 397 deaths. Monroe County had 116 cases and 1 new death, bringing their total to 5.
Statewide, more than 1,280,000 people have been tested for COVID-19, with the percent positive around 5.3%. More than 11,300 hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been reported in Florida to-date.
Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Miami-Dade County Wednesday was 576, according to the county’s "New Normal" dashboard data.
On Wednesday, 79 people were discharged and 49 were admitted to hospitals.
A graph released by the county showed a downward trend of people hospitalized since the start of the month. Miami-Dade has averaged 240 new cases of COVID-19 since June 5th, but its infection rate remains low even as the total case numbers have gone up.
The county’s 14-day average infection rate is 7.08%.
Earlier this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the increase in cases was expected as the state tests more people.
"In the last two weeks, we have averaged 30,000 tests results in the state. If you go back to the end of March or April, we weren’t even doing 10,000 test results a day," DeSantis said.
Nationally, more than a handful of states are seeing more cases, hospitalizations, and high positivity rates since the Memorial Day holiday.
"Don’t mistake identifying more cases for thinking that there are more cases on day compared to two months ago, if you are testing three times as much," DeSantis added.
