JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The number of new daily coronavirus cases reported by Florida health officials jumped by another 1,758 on Monday -- down slightly from the two record days of over 2,000 new cases over the weekend, but marking nearly two weeks with daily increases over 1,000 cases.
June began with 56,153 Floridians and visitors to the state diagnosed with COVID-19. On Monday, the Department of Health reported 77,326 total cases, an increase of 21,173 -- a 37.7% rise in 14 days.
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As of Monday’s report from the health department, Florida had administered a total of 1.43 million tests for COVID-19, but a person can be counted more than once in the overall testing number because patients often need multiple tests over days or weeks before they are cleared to return to normal activities.
The surge of cases so far this month coincides both with the reopening of Florida’s economy following the statewide Safer at Home lockdown and with an increase in the state’s testing capacity. The total number of tests administered has gone up by 28.6% in that same two-week period, but that is the number of tests, not the number of people tested.
The percent of positive results has ranged from 4% to 9% over the past two weeks and was 7% on Sunday. The positive cases the state lists are only for the first time the patient tests positive.
The DOH reports seven additional deaths statewide overnight, bringing the number to 2,938. There were no additional deaths reported in Northeast Florida.
The state now reports a total of 12,015 patients have been hospitalized with coronavirus, an increase of 73 new hospitalizations. The state does not release data specifically on how many patients are currently hospitalized with coronavirus but Monday’s hospitalization number is up 15.2% over the past two weeks.
Duval County’s caseload increased by 42 on Monday, bringing the total to 2,032. St. Johns saw eight more cases, Clay added five, Alachua added 10, and Columbia, Nassau and Putnam each added one case in the last 24 hours.
Florida began letting restaurants reopen last month and bars opened their doors last week after they were forced to close to stop the spread of the virus. The NBA, Major League Soccer, the Amateur Athletics Union Junior Olympics and others plan to hold games and events in Florida, potentially drawing thousands of people to the state from around the world.
Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay opened their doors this month, and Walt Disney World is set to reopen its theme parks next month.
The vast majority of people who test positive for the coronavirus recover and many never experience any symptoms. The disease is particularly dangerous for the elderly and people who have pre-existing health problems.
Tap on the legend at bottom of the infogram below to see the growth of cases, deaths and they daily increases since the first cases of COVID-19 were found in Florida on March 1.