Community Corner
Coronavirus Infections Poised To Hit 10,000
Numbers rising dramatically in Florida as death toll hits 144.
From the Florida Phoenix: By Diane Rado - April 2, 2020
Within hours Thursday, COVID-19 infections jumped from 8,010 to 9,008 cases across the state, a difference of about 1,000 infections between morning and early evening.
The rapid rise, in large part due to more testing, will likely mean Florida will hit the 10,000 mark for infections within a matter of days if not one day, if the increase of 998 cases on Thursday replicates Friday’s count.
Find out what's happening in Across Floridafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Overall, 59 of Florida’s 67 counties have at least one infection, according to the Florida Department of Health data. (There’s also an “unknown” category, not a county, that has nine cases.)
Only eight small rural counties are hanging on with zero infections, after at least a dozen of the zero-infection counties fell off the list recently.
Find out what's happening in Across Floridafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The remaining counties with no infections are: Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Liberty and Taylor. This swath of counties are in North Florida, including some in the Panhandle and others hugging the Georgia border.
In the big counties in South Florida, Miami-Dade now has nearly 3,000 infections; Broward has almost 1,500 and Palm Beach, 737. Those three counties have been at the center of the coronavirus pandemic in Florida.
Orange County now has 541 infections, and Hillsborough, 404.
Duval, Lee and Pinellas have just under 300 cases.
Deaths from the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus also rose, from 128 Thursday morning to 144 by early evening, according to the Florida Department of Health data.
Thursday morning, the department reported that 27 people had died, in Broward, Clay, Dade, Duval, Flagler, Hillsborough, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties, putting the death toll at 128.
Another 16 deaths were reported Thursday evening, in Collier, Dade, Duval, Osceola, Palm Beach, Sarasota, St. Lucie and Sumter counties, bringing the total death cases to 144.
This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix. For more stories from the Florida Phoenix, visit FloridaPhoenix.com.
