ORLANDO, Fla. – Before Florida begins a new stay-at-home order later this week, the state’s confirmed coronavirus cases surged more than 800 cases in one day topping 7,700 by Wednesday evening, according to the Florida Department of Health records
Wednesday around 11 a.m. the state had 6,955 COVID-19 cases and by 6:30 p.m. the new total had reached 7,773 cases, including 101 deaths statewide.
The death toll count grew by 14 within Wednesday alone, records show. Those fatalities were reported in Broward, Dade, Lee, Manatee and Palm Beach counties, health officials said.
Nearly 1,000 people across the state suffering from the highly contagious illness are hospitalized.
Florida releases the coronavirus case count twice a day around 11 a.m. and 6:30 pm.
Tuesday had the highest amount of new cases in the state since the pandemic made its way here with 938. The second highest day, which was Sunday, saw 897 new infections.
Amid the rising death toll and growing criticism, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order telling Floridians to stay at home. That order begins Friday at 12:01 a.m. Florida was among a handful of states that did not have a statewide order.
“We’re going to be in this for another 30 days and that’s just the reality that we find ourselves in,” DeSantis said.
Because the virus is spread from person to person and social distancing is a must, both Orange and Osceola counties had already issued stay-at-home orders requiring residents to only go out in public if it’s absolutely necessary.
On Wednesday, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings cited a recently released study attempting to predict when states would see peak infection numbers and consumption rates of critical supplies for COVID-19 treatment, indicting the worst is yet to come.
According to the study from the University of Washington, Florida could see more than 7,000 deaths when the worst of the pandemic is over.
Here’s the breakdown for coronavirus cases in Central Florida.
| County | Cases | Hospitalizations | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 47 | 13 | 0 |
| Flagler | 24 | 4 | 0 |
| Lake | 71 | 14 | 0 |
| Marion | 28 | 3 | 0 |
| Orange | 458 | 72 | 4 |
| Osceola | 140 | 43 | 1 |
| Polk | 91 | 37 | 1 |
| Seminole | 128 | 28 | 0 |
| Sumter | 52 | 16 | 0 |
| Volusia | 93 | 26 | 1 |
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, community transmission is present in certain areas of Florida, although the agency’s site didn’t specify which regions.
Of Florida’s 7,773 cases, 807 are travel-related, more than 1,100 had contact with a confirmed case, more than 500 traveled and had contact with a confirmed case while 5,020 are under investigation.
Nationwide, the pandemic has hit New York the hardest with 75,795 cases as of Tuesday afternoon, which is the last time the state’s department of health provided an update. New Jersey comes in second with nearly 19,000 cases.
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