What to Know
- With 25 new coronavirus-related deaths reported Wednesday, Florida has surpassed 3,000 since March
- Florida reported 2,610 new cases Wednesday, after reporting a daily record of 2,783 on Tuesday
- Of the new cases reported Wednesday, 846 are in Miami-Dade and Broward
Florida's number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by more than 2,600 Wednesday, as the state's virus-related deaths eclipsed 3,000.
With 2,610 new COVID-19 cases, the state's total rose to 82,719, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health. The state had reported more than 2,700 new cases on Tuesday and more than 1,700 new cases Monday.
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Another 25 new deaths related to the virus were confirmed, bringing the state's total to 3,018.
Miami-Dade County's case total rose by 532 to 23,273, out of 246,168 tested, for a positive rate of around 9.5%. The county's virus-related deaths rose to 850.
In Broward County, there were 9,812 COVID-19 cases reported, an increase of 314, out of 151,349 tested, or about 6.5% positive. The county had 360 virus-related deaths.
Palm Beach County had 9,472 cases and 444 deaths. Monroe County had 137 cases and 4 reported deaths.
Statewide, more than 1,486,700 people have been tested for COVID-19, with the percent positive around 5.6%. More than 12,300 hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been reported in Florida to-date.
At a news conference Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the recent spike in confirmed infections can be traced to hot spots such as farm labor camps or particular businesses where a few positive cases leads to widespread testing that uncovers high percentages of asymptomatic or barely symptomatic cases.
He added that many of the newly detected are young and healthy and unlikely to suffer serious illness or death.
But a Florida International University public health expert said Tuesday that evidence that it's not just asymptomatic young people getting surprised by positive test results is emerging in local emergency rooms.
"More people are presenting to emergency departments with COVID-like illnesses," Dr. Mary Jo Trepka, chair of the epidemiology department at FIU, told NBC 6. "Taken together (with increased positive rates) that suggests we’re seeing more transmission within the community."
Despite the uptick, DeSantis said the state won't be rolling back any of the recent reopenings of the economy.
“We are not shutting down, we are going to go forward and we are going to continue to protect the most vulnerable,” DeSantis said.
