Florida Coronavirus Cases Top 6,000 Mark; 77 Deaths

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida reached another milestone Tuesday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state topped the 6,000 mark. The number of cases in Florida rose to 6,741 as of Tuesday night while the number of deaths climbed to 85.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties in South Florida account for more than half of the total number of cases. Florida's total included 857 hospitalizations as of Tuesday night and a positive test rate for the virus of 10.4 percent based on 64,661 tests throughout the state.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Tuesday that Florida continues to expand testing, including a new large drive-thru site that opened Tuesday at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach.

"The key marker that people put out is one test for every 200 people," DeSantis said. "In the state of Florida if we get over 100,000 tests done, that will be about one test for every 200 people in the state of Florida."

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who was among the first elected officials in the nation to contract the new coronavirus, also announced Tuesday he had beaten the illness.

The mayor told Patch he learned the respiratory illness can attack people like himself who experienced only minimal symptoms.

"I was very fortunate," Suarez said. "The worst symptoms that I experienced were some body pain in the beginning that I basically took Tylenol for. I had congestion for a couple of days. My body temperature never got to 100. I was very fortunate. I got a very, very mild case."

He said his experience gave him more confidence to make hard decisions in the interest of protecting the public from the illness.

"It has actually given me courage and the impetus to continue to act aggressively to protect our residents," the mayor said.

With 2,123 cases, Miami-Dade County has the most confirmed cases of any of Florida's 67 counties. Nearby Broward County, which has a much smaller population than Miami-Dade, has 1,219 cases.

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Palm Beach County, which is just north of Broward County, has 551 cases.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, has 305 cases. Orange County, which includes Orlando, has 373 cases.

Related:

• 6 Elderly Residents Die From Coronavirus At Long-Term Care Home
• Coronavirus Fears May Be Keeping Us Awake At Night
• Florida Coronavirus Self-Quarantine Order Extended To New Orleans
• President Trump Declares Major Disaster In FL From Coronavirus
• Florida Coronavirus: Special Grocery Shopping Hours For Seniors

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 average age of patients, the number of hospital cases by county and the number of deaths: