Florida Coronavirus Cases Surpass 5,400 Mark; 63 Dead

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The number of coronavirus cases in Florida surpassed the 5,000 Monday as state health officials reported 5,473 confirmed cases and 63 deaths.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said testing of asymptomatic people at The Villages retirement community has shed some light on the mysterious respiratory illness.

"The first week they did 600 random samples for people in The Villages who were asymptomatic," DeSantis said. "The good news on this is that zero came back COVID-19 positive."

All Florida residents received a public safety alert Saturday urging people 65 and older or people with underlying medical conditions to stay home.

"The evidence continues to come in that this is a virus that does particularly target those who have some significant underlying medical conditions and those who are elderly," DeSantis explained. "We want those folks to really be staying at home and protecting themselves."

DeSantis said Saturday that an airline passenger who previously tested positive for the new coronavirus was identified on a flight from New York to Jacksonville through the enhanced screening procedures put in place at large Florida airports.

"His symptoms abated so he thought it was OK to fly," DeSantis said. "It turns out the symptoms came back so he was intercepted when he came through the checkpoint, and he was diverted to go to a hospital."

The governor on Friday expanded his 14-day self-quarantine order originally aimed at people fleeing the New York City area, to now include travelers from New Orleans. The governor authorized the use of roadside checkpoints along Interstate 95, Interstate 10 and other areas as needed to enforce the directive.

DeSantis asked Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to investigate Larkin Community Hospital in Hialeah after he said the hospital charged people $150 to get tested for COVID-19. The governor said tests are free across the state. Larkin did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

DeSantis also reported Saturday that Florida has obtained 2,000 rapid test kits, which will be administered in South Florida and Jacksonville. The test takes only 45 minutes to obtain results.

The city of Miami Beach, which was among the first Florida cities to issue a safer at home order announced Saturday that it was easing restrictions on restaurants, allowing eateries to offer 24-hour-a-day delivery services.

Thousands of people in Miami-Dade received an alert Friday afternoon urging them to remain indoors. County Mayor Carlos Gimenez later acknowledged the alert had not been authorized.

"During these difficult times our emergency center is working hard to keep everyone informed," Gimenez said. "They may have gone a little bit overboard."

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties in South Florida still account for more than half of the total number of cases.

Florida's total includes 652 hospitalizations

To date 49,443 people have been tested with 44,481 negative, 4,950 positive, 12 inconclusive and 1,085 awaiting test results.

With 1,608 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 1129 cases.

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Palm Beach County, which is just north of Broward County, has 407 cases.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, has 246 cases. Orange County, which includes Orlando, has 272 cases.

Fifteen Florida counties still had no cases at all as of Monday morning, one reason why DeSantis said he has not issued a stay-at-home order for the entire state. Suwannee County reported its first case Friday while Washington County reported its first case Thursday night. Hendry County reported its first case on Saturday night.

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: