More Than 2,700 New Coronavirus Cases in Florida, Bringing Total Past 80,000

Florida's number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by more than 2,700 Tuesday - another daily record - as the state's virus-related deaths approached 3,000.

With 2,783 new COVID-19 cases, the state's total rose to 80,109, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health. The state had reported more than 1,700 new cases on Monday but more than 2,000 new cases on Sunday and more than 2,500 new cases Saturday.

Another 55 new deaths related to the virus were confirmed, bringing the state's total to 2,993.

Miami-Dade County's case total rose to 22,741, out of 242,429 tested, with the positive rate staying at around 9.4%. The county's virus-related deaths rose to 847.

In Broward County, there were 9,498 COVID-19 cases reported out of 148,549 tested, or about 6.4% positive. The county had 358 virus-related deaths.

Palm Beach County had 9,262 cases and 438 deaths. Monroe County had 131 cases and 4 reported deaths.

The latest figures come as the state has increased testing and has been gradually allowing businesses and public spaces to reopen.

Statewide, more than 1,461,800 people have been tested for COVID-19, with the percent positive remaining around 5.5%. More than 12,200 hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been reported in Florida to-date.

At a news conference Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state was seeing more positive cases as a result of expanded testing, especially among high-risk environments including jails and prisons and farms.

DeSantis pointed to a number of examples from the past week, including the case of a migrant worker from Miami with COVID-19 who went to a watermelon farm in Alachua County. DeSantis said most of the workers at the farm were asymptomatic but when 100 were tested, 90 were positive for COVID-19.

The governor said at a jail in Lake County where few had exhibited symptoms, 160 workers and inmates were tested and 100 were positive.

"You're identifying a lot of asymptomatic carriers when you're doing the mass testing in these zones," DeSantis said. "These are folks who are living in close confines, a lot of people together for extended periods of time, and that provides a good venue for the virus to transmit."

DeSantis also pointed to figures that showed ICU hospitalizations were down about 43% since April 15, and ventilator use in the state was down 56% since mid-April.

The governor said the state won't be rolling back any reopenings, but said he was encouraging people to continue to use social distancing measures.

"At the end of the day we should be trusting people to make good decisions, Floridians have shown they can do that thus far, and I think that they'll continue to do that in the future," DeSantis said.