FL Sees Record Coronavirus Spike; Alcohol Sales Suspended In Bars

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida experienced its largest one-day coronavirus spike by far Friday with 8,942 new cases as state officials ordered all consumption of on-premises alcohol suspended at bars statewide to slow the spread of the deadly disease.

"Effective immediately, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is suspending on premises consumption of alcohol at bars statewide," tweeted Halsey Beshears, Florida's secretary of the Department of Business & Professional Regulation.

State health officials reported a total of 122,960 cases as of Friday, up from 114,018 over the previous 24-hour period. Florida's previous one-day record of 5,511 new coronavirus cases was set on Wednesday.

"Really nothing has changed in the past week other than we had a big test dump," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday at a press conference in Lee County. "Probably the most significant change we've seen is a radical change in the median age of people."

He has said the median age of people testing positive for the virus has shifted to the early 30s since the beginning of the outbreak in March when the median age of people testing positive was in the 60s.

DeSantis said he had no plans to require Floridians to wear face coverings in public even as cities like Miami now require it.

"The idea that you are just going to mandate and selectively prosecute people, I don't think that's necessarily going to work," DeSantis said. "Quite frankly, there's parts of Florida where it just wouldn't make sense."

Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the national U.S. coronavirus task force, said he plans to travel to Florida on Thursday to get a report on the surge in cases.

A Patch review of Florida Health Department data found that 21 Florida counties reported median ages of people testing positive under 40 as of Thursday.

The Patch review also revealed 42 of Florida's 67 counties reported younger median ages of people testing positive for the virus between Monday and Thursday. Only three Florida counties reported higher median ages over that period.

The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut imposed a two-week self-quarantine that took effect Thursday on travelers from Florida and other states experiencing a surge.

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The total number of deaths from the new coronavirus in Florida rose to 3,366 from 3,327 a day earlier.

Fourteen Florida counties reported 39 new deaths Friday. That compares with 46 new deaths Thursday, 45 new deaths Wednesday, 65 new deaths Tuesday, 12 deaths Monday, 17 deaths Sunday, 40 deaths on Saturday and 43 new deaths last Friday.

Miami-Dade County reported 11 new deaths. Broward County reported two new deaths. Palm Beach County reported four new deaths.

Polk County reported seven new deaths. Hillsborough County reported five new deaths. Pinellas County reported four new deaths. Lee County reported three new deaths.

Alachua County reported one new death as did Clay County, Escambia County, Hardee County, Lake County, Orange County and Washington County.

Health officials reported 13,987 total hospitalizations in Florida, up from 13,775 over the previous 24-hour period. That represents an increase of 212 new hospitalizations.

Miami-Dade reported 30,196 cases of the virus as of Friday. Nearby Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, reported 13,320cases. Palm Beach County, which includes West Palm Beach, reported 12,498 cases.

Those three South Florida counties are still considered the epicenter of Florida's outbreak but other parts of the state now account for a greater share of cases.

Florida had a 6.9 percent positive test rate for the virus Friday based on 1,770,081 tests. The percentage of positive cases has also increased over the past week.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 8,018 cases. Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 7,848 cases.

In an attempt to provide as much information to our readers as possible, Patch is publishing the following 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.

Related:

• Miami-Area Beaches To Shut Down Again Amid Coronavirus Surge
• Floridians Face 2-Week Quarantine In NY, NJ, Connecticut
• Fast Coronavirus Lab Results In Florida Through Statlab Mobile
• Ways To Stop The Spread Of Coronavirus: Pinellas Doctors
• Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center To Host Presidential Debate
• Carnival Extends Shutdown Through Sept. 30 Over Coronavirus
• 7 Officers Test Positive For Coronavirus at TPD
• PSTA Riders Required To Wear Mask, No Mask No Service
• Florida Gov. Announces Return To Classroom Education This Fall
• Miami's Famed South Beach Reopens With Social Distancing: PHOTOS

Patch updates this chart once each day based on data provided by the Florida Department of Health. The counties that reported new deaths on Friday are shown in bold.

Here is the most recent data: