But the daily increases in cases and deaths are showing signs of diminishing. The state counted just 475 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
That’s the smallest number since March 24, when 300 new cases were recorded near the beginning of the pandemic.
In Palm Beach County, health department director Dr. Alina Alonso said it appears an emergency field hospital set up at the South Florida Fairgrounds may not be needed for coronavirus patients after all. There were fewer than 40 new cases in the county Tuesday.
In Tallahassee, Jared Moskowitz, the state’s emergency management director, said, "The mitigation measures are working. We are flattening that curve.”
But the death toll in South Florida continues to rise. Since Tuesday morning, there has been an increase of 47 deaths altogether from COVID-19 in the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, according to the state health department.
Miami-Dade, the epicenter for infections in Florida, has had 146 deaths. With 2.7 million people, Miami-Dade has the highest population of all 67 counties in the state, according to the most recent census data.
There have been 105 deaths in Palm Beach County and 92 in Broward, the Department of Health said.
The United States counted 609,696 cases on Wednesday morning, including 26,059 deaths. Both figures are the highest among all countries with the virus; the U.S. is the third most populous country, behind China and India.
Worldwide, there are 2 million cases and 128,071 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.
Florida touts testing gains
Nearly one out of every 100 Floridians have been tested for the new coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.The ratio is even better for the South Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach: nearly one out of 85 residents.
“We’ve been able to get a better baseline about what’s happening," the governor said at a Tallahassee news conference. “Obviously people want to be able to get tested and get results.”
Overall, the state ranks second in the nation for COVID-19 testing, in line with Florida’s position as the third most populous state behind Texas and California.
DeSantis credited drive-thru test sites as well as expanded testing in hospitals and nursing homes for the results.
In raw numbers, more than 207,800 people in Florida have been swabbed; this includes 82,733 residents in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Overall, 10.5 percent of the tests have come back positive, according to the latest state data.
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