WATCH NEWS CONFERENCE LIVE:

Gov. Ron DeSantis will give a coronavirus update on the state’s response to the pandemic.

The news conference is scheduled to start at 2:30 PM and is being held at the Jacksonville Port Authority.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Florida continue to spike. There are 232,718 confirmed cases in the sate as of Thursday, an increase of 8,935 cases from the day before.

In addition, the number of coronavirus-related deaths in Florida jumped to 4,009 on Thursday, a record increase of 120 deaths in just one day.