Medical Expert Calls Miami New World Epicenter; 12,624 More Cases

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida health officials reported 12,624 more cases of the coronavirus Monday as one infectious disease specialist described Miami as the world's new epicenter and another described Florida's ongoing spike in cases as "extremely grave."

"Miami is now the epicenter of the pandemic. What we were seeing in Wuhan six months ago, five months ago, now we are there," Dr. Lilian M. Abbo of the the University of Miami Health System told reporters.

Florida set another staggering new record for coronavirus cases on Sunday with a one-day increase of 15,300 cases. But the record is only one day of a long string of 10,000-plus days in Florida.

"There are multiple factors that have led to us being in this situation that we're in, which is extremely grave," Dr. Aileen M. Marty of FIU's Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine said in a virtual news conference organized by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez. "We've run into this major problem of accumulating amounts of virus that's floating around in the air which makes those indoor spaces very, very dangerous."

Gimenez and the medical experts blame the public for not wearing masks, which are mandatory in all indoor and outdoor public spaces of Miami-Dade County. President Donald Trump and most of his entourage were not wearing masks Friday when they got off Air Force One at Miami International Airport.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told ABC News earlier that this will be an important week in the state's response to the pandemic.

"I don't think we should go to the stay-at-home-order again right now," Castor said. "I really think that this week is going to be the tell-all, and if we have to take steps backwards, this will be the week where we make that difficult decision."

A disproportionate number of the new cases have been in Miami-Dade, which includes the cities of Miami and Miami Beach. Restaurants in Miami-Dade have been ordered to close indoor dining rooms while gym patrons have been ordered to wear masks when exercising indoors. The entire county remains under a curfew.

"The hospital systems are getting strained. We have a very small capacity in our ICUs," Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday. "We just crossed the threshold for the highest number of ventilators that we've had in the history of this virus, and that's also alarming because that's an indicator that our death rate may begin to go up."

Florida health officials reported a total of 282,435 cases Monday, up from 269,811 cases Sunday. Sunday's total surpassed the previous record of 11,458 new cases set on the Fourth of July.

Sunday's surge in new cases also topped the national record for a daily increase in cases by a single state, which was set by California earlier in the week when it reported more than 11,000 new cases Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

Florida had a 10.7 percent positive test rate for the virus Monday as the number of tests administered in the state reached 2,642,613.

The percentage of positive cases has been increasing for weeks, and cases have been trending younger with many of the new people testing positive between the ages of 25 to 34.

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The total number of deaths from the new coronavirus rose to 4,277 from 4,242 a day earlier. State officials reported another 104 deaths in Florida involving non-Florida residents.

Sixteen Florida counties reported 35 deaths Monday. That compares with 45 new deaths Sunday, 94 new deaths Saturday (health officials reported 95), 117 new deaths Friday (health officials reported 93), 120 new deaths Thursday, 49 new deaths reported Wednesday, 63 new deaths Tuesday and 61 new deaths last Monday.

Miami-Dade County reported four new deaths. Palm Beach County reported five new deaths.

Pinellas County reported seven new deaths. Duval County reported three new cases as did Orange County. Manatee County reported two new deaths as did St. Lucie County.

Citrus County reported one new death as did Escambia County, Hendry County, Indian River County, Lee County, Pasco County, Polk County, Volusia County and Walton County.

Health officials reported 18,498 hospitalizations up from 18,271 over the previous 24-hour period. That represents an increase of 227 more hospitalizations over the previous day.

Miami-Dade reported 67,713 cases of the virus Monday. Nearby Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, reported 31,484 cases. Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Beach and West Palm, reported 21,806 cases.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 19,723 cases. Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 18,937 cases.

In an effort 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:

• Florida Bars Won't Reopen, But Schools Will; Cases Top 250,000
• More Residents Refusing To Participate In Contact Tracing
• Pinellas Releases Draft Back-To-School Plan, Mandates Masks
• FL Governor Says He Would Not Hesitate To Send His Kids To School
• Miami-Dade Nearly Doubles Coronavirus Contact Tracers Amid Spike
• Miami ABC Affiliate WPLG-TV Reports 9 Coronavirus Cases
• Toxic Bleach Sold As 'Miracle' Coronavirus Cure: Feds
• Most Florida Children Expected To Attend Traditional Schools
• Masks Are Now Required In Lakeland Public Places: Commission
• Patch Survey: Too Soon To Send Kids Back To School
• Coronavirus Confrontation On South Beach Elevator

• Miami-Dade Mayor Reimposes Curfew Amid Coronavirus
• Jackson Health CEO Issues Dire Warning Over Coronavirus Spike

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

Here is the most recent data: