ORLANDO, Fla. – The number of Florida-related coronavirus cases has climbed past 650, according to the latest numbers from the Florida Department of Health.
In an 11 a.m. update, the FDOH reported 603 confirmed cases in Florida residents and 55 confirmed cases in non-Florida residents, totaling 658 Florida-related cases.
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Health officials said there have been 12 deaths in Florida coronavirus cases and 1,072 cases are being monitored.
Of the 603 cases confirmed in Florida residents, 301 cases have been confirmed by the Department of Health, according to the FDOH’s website. The other 302 cases have been confirmed in private testing labs.
Of the total 658 Florida-related cases, 179 are travel-related, 115 of the patients had contact with another confirmed case, 99 of the cases traveled and had contact with another confirmed case and 265 cases are still under investigation.
Here is the breakdown of COVID-19 cases in Central Florida:
Brevard: 4 cases
Lake: 4 cases
Orange: 23 cases
Seminole: 11 cases
Sumter: 2 cases
Osceola: 14 cases
Polk: 10 cases
Volusia: 10 cases
Marion: 0 cases
*Flagler: 0 cases
NOTE: The FDOH data lists zero cases in Flagler and Marion counties but health officials from Flagler County said Friday that a Volusia County resident tested positive for the respiratory illness while in the area.
Officials from the Seminole County Office of Emergency Management also claim that FDOH’s numbers are not updating quickly enough. According to them, Seminole County actually has 13 cases. In addition, Marion County commissioners said Friday evening that the county has its first case, but state numbers don’t reflect that.
Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the president’s coronavirus task force, pointed out Wednesday afternoon that labs are working through a backlog of tests that are now being processed at a higher rate, meaning that the country will likely see an increase in positive cases in the coming days.
Saturday morning’s numbers show the number of cases in Florida continues to climb. In a 6 p.m. update on Friday, the FDOH said Florida had 563 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths. Earlier Friday, at 11 a.m., Florida was at 520 cases and 10 deaths. As of Thursday at 6 p.m., the number of Florida-related cases was at 432.
The highly contagious respiratory illness first appeared in Florida on March 1. Nearly every day since then, the number of cases has continued to rise.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly pushed for more testing and social distancing to stop the spread of the deadly virus.
Around 6 p.m. Friday the Florida Department of Health said there were 11 deaths from Coronavirus in Florida, the department of health corrected this number to 10 deaths around 10 p.m. on Friday.
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