ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida on Tuesday joined Texas and California in surpassing 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases as Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed not to adopt any further restrictions or impose closures like those enacted in the spring and summer.
While vaccines could arrive as early as this month, officials say it will be spring at the earliest before most people can receive the shots.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday on Twitter that the priority for the allocation of the new vaccines should be to residents of long-term care facilities who are “by far the most likely demographic to die with COVID.”
The top priority for vaccine allocation should be to residents of long-term care facilities. Residents of LTCs are by far the most likely demographic to die with COVID and the mitigation efforts undertaken by LTCs have dramatically reduced the quality of life for LTC residents.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) December 1, 2020
[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida surpasses 1 million coronavirus infections with promises of vaccine distribution this month]
At a news conference on Monday, DeSantis said that lockdowns and closures have not worked and vowed not to issue any further restrictions that would hurt the state’s economy. DeSantis ordered school districts to stay open for in-person instruction and require some students to return to the classrooms if they have been falling behind due to virtual instruction.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has also advised to keep children in school but has recommended adopting other measures such as closing bars to keep the community spread low.
Below is a breakdown of Florida’s COVID-19 numbers for Wednesday, Dec. 2.
Cases
The Florida Department of Health reported 9,994 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,018,160 cases since March.
Deaths
The Florida Department of Health on Wednesday reported 96 people have recently died from COVID-19. As of Wednesday’s coronavirus report, a total of 19,012 deaths across the state have been related to the coronavirus, a number that includes 236 non-resident deaths in Florida.
On Tuesday, the FDOH originally reported 237 non-resident deaths. They have not offered an explanation for Wednesday’s data.
State health officials have always maintained that virus fatalities are often delayed in being reported to the FDOH, with some deaths not reported for a month or more.
Hospitalizations
As of Wednesday afternoon, there are currently 4,248 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
In total, 55,567 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from the coronavirus. The state reported 370 new hospitalizations on Wednesday.
Positivity rate
The percent of positive results ranged from 5.12% to 8.49% over the past two weeks and was 9.1% for tests reported Tuesday.
Below is a county-by-county breakdown of COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region.
| County | Cases | New Cases | Hospitalizations | New Hospitalizations | Deaths | New Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 15,953 | 209 | 1,212 | 13 | 445 | 1 |
| Flagler | 2,786 | 22 | 194 | 1 | 42 | 0 |
| Lake | 10,809 | 66 | 845 | 14 | 258 | 3 |
| Marion | 13,280 | 104 | 1,178 | 8 | 382 | 3 |
| Orange | 59,218 | 356 | 1,794 | 3 | 648 | 2 |
| Osceola | 18,817 | 219 | 960 | 4 | 245 | 0 |
| Polk | 28,101 | 279 | 2,980 | 34 | 690 | 2 |
| Seminole | 13,194 | 122 | 832 | 5 | 279 | 3 |
| Sumter | 3,535 | 32 | 328 | 6 | 98 | 0 |
| Volusia | 16,773 | 140 | 1,101 | 10 | 369 | -1 |
*Note: The FDOH reported Tuesday there were 370 deaths in Volusia County. Wednesday’s data now reflects 369 deaths.
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