Gov. Ron DeSantis provided an explanation Thursday for the sudden spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the state.
He attributed the numbers to “another big dump of test results: more than 50,000 results with roughly 1,300 new cases.”
Palm Beach County ended up matching its record for most reported new COVID-19 deaths in a single day, and represents the state’s largest increase, according to data released on Thursday by the Florida Department of Health.
The 17 deaths in the county were among 48 statewide. That brings the total number of deaths in Palm Beach County to 308, with 4,968 positive cases.
Florida received another big dump of test results: more than 50,000 results with roughly 1,300 new cases.
For this batch:
Statewide Positivity: 2.5%
Positivity for initial Phase I counties: 1.66% pic.twitter.com/5ouT6Mb599— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 21, 2020
DeSantis added that the percentage of positive cases among the counties that were the first to reopen across the state is 1.66%.
The state’s health department reported 48,675 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Florida on Thursday morning, with 2,144 deaths and 8,946 hospitalizations since the pandemic began.
Miami-Dade has 16,367 cases of COVID-19 and 602 deaths, the highest numbers in the state. Meanwhile, Broward has 6,514 cases and 286 deaths.