FL Coronavirus Cases Surpass 20,000 Mark; Testing Expands

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The number of coronavirus cases in Florida surpassed the 20,ooo mark for the first time Monday as three major test sites around the state expanded their testing criteria.

State health officials reported a total of 21,019 cases on Monday night, an increase of 1,124 cases over the previous 24-hour period. Some 65 percent of the cases are still concentrated in three South Florida counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

State health officials also reported a total of 499 deaths in Florida as of Monday night, including 38 more people that passed away over the previous 24-hour period.

"Obviously most of the fatalities are 65 and plus. We do not have any under 25," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters earlier on Monday. "That doesn't mean it can't happen."

Miami-Dade County reported 12 new deaths on Monday. Palm Beach County reported 11 new deaths. Manatee County, Brevard County and Sarasota County each reported two new deaths. Lee County reported one new death as did Broward County, Polk County, Citrus County, Clay County, Collier County, St. Lucie County and Lee County.
Suwannee County reported its first death on Monday.

Test sites in Jacksonville at TIAA Bank Field, the Orange County Convention Center and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami-Dade County began testing people on Monday who were exposed to the virus but are not experiencing symptoms. They also began testing people of any age with symptoms of the virus.

There were a total of 2,841 hospitalizations from the virus reported in Florida. The state had a 10.5 percent positive test rate out of 201,005 total tests.

With 7,459 cases, Miami-Dade County continues to have the most confirmed cases of any of Florida's 67 counties. Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, had 3,177 cases. Palm Beach County, which includes West Palm Beach, reported 1,704 cases.

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Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 813 cases as of Monday. Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 1,024 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: