17,531 Coronavirus Cases In Florida; Testing To Be Expanded

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The number of coronavirus cases in Florida jumped to 17,531 on Friday, an increase of 1,604 cases over the previous 24-hour period as Floridians prepare for their first major stay-at-home holiday weekend since the outbreak began.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that major test sites in Jacksonville at TIAA Bank Field, the Orange County Convention Center and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami-Dade County would begin testing people on Monday who were exposed to the virus but are not experiencing symptoms.

"Anybody who has had close sustained contacts with an individual that has recently tested positive for COVID-19 may get tested even if you personally haven't developed symptoms," the governor said. "I think what we're trying to do is get a sense of people that are asymptomatic, who may be carrying the virus and may be spreading the virus."

The governor said anyone who has symptoms regardless of age will now also be able to get tested at the three sites.

Deaths rose from 371 to 419 in the previous 24-hour period, an increase of 48 people lost to the illness in Florida.

Five of the deaths were in Broward County, which has been described as the epicenter of Florida's outbreak along with nearby Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach County.

Miami-Dade County, which includes Miami and Miami Beach, reported 18 new deaths Friday. Palm Beach County reported four new deaths. Hernando County, Seminole County, Charlotte County, Clay County and Lake County each reported one new death as did Orange County and Santa Rosa County.

Hillsborough County reported three new deaths from the virus. Manatee County and Lee County each reported two more deaths as did Martin County, Pinellas County and Sumter County.

Indian River County reported its first death from the virus on Friday.

There were 2,496 hospitalizations from the virus in Florida as of Friday. The state had a 10.8 percent positive test rate out of 165,686 tests.

With 6,300 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 2,679 cases. Palm Beach County, which includes West Palm Beach, had 1,431 cases.

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Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, had 676 cases. Orange County, which includes Orlando, had 902 cases as of Friday.

Liberty County reported its first case of the virus Friday. It had been the only Florida county without any 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: