FL Plans For Reopening As Coronavirus Cases Rise To 22,519

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The number of coronavirus cases in Florida climbed to 22,081 Wednesday night as Florida governor Ron DeSantis said it's time to begin considering the "resurgence and reopening" of the state.

DeSantis gave no timetable for reopening the state, but said he will form a task force by the end of the week to assist him with a phased reopening.

"It obviously is prudent to start thinking about, and planning for people getting back to work, and getting society functioning in a more healthy way," the governor said.

He said his task force will include elected officials, business representatives, educators and others.

"I'll be seeking advice and ideas on pretty much everything under the sun — small business, agriculture, restaurants, tourism, large events and conventions, recreation, international travel, K-12 as well as higher education," the governor said, noting that employers will most likely want "easy access" to testing for the virus that can be done quickly.

State health officials reported 591 deaths in Florida as of Wednesday night, up from 571 deaths the previous night. The total number of cases has grown by 891 cases over the previous 24-hour period.

Broward County reported 13 new deaths as of Wednesday. Miami-Dade reported 12 more deaths. Lee County reported four new deaths. Palm Beach County reported four new deaths. Sumter County reported two more deaths. Charlotte County reported one new death as did Citrus County, Lake County, Orange County, Volusia County, St. Johns County and Highlands County.

There were a total of 3,249 hospitalizations from the virus reported in Florida as of Wednesday night. The state had a 10.5 percent positive test rate out of 215,521 total tests.

Some 60 percent of the cases are still concentrated in three South Florida counties: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

Miami-Dade reported 8,063 cases as of Wednesday night, more than any Florida County. Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, had 3,363 cases. Palm Beach County, which includes West Palm Beach, reported 1,816 cases.

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Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 870 cases as of Wednesday night. Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 1,072 cases.

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In an attempt to provide as much information to our readers as possible, Patch is publishing a county-by-county breakdown of the coronavirus cases in Florida's 67 counties, along with the median age of patients, the number of hospital cases by county and the number of deaths.

Patch is updating this data twice each day as available from the Florida Department of Health. Here is the most recent data: