Only about 20 Florida counties don’t have confirmed cases
At least three more Florida residents or visitors have died due to complications from the coronavirus, according to the latest Florida Department of Health numbers, as the number of confirmed infections in the state surged above 1,200.
As of Monday, only about 20 of Florida’s 67 counties were untouched by COVID-19 infections, however, as the number of large-scale testing sites continue to open across the state that is expected to change this week.
By Monday at 6 p.m. there were 1,227 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Florida: 1,147 Florida residents and 80 non-Florida residents who tested positive in the state.
Florida health officials confirmed another death Monday morning bringing the state’s death toll to 14 but less than 8 hours later the state had confirmed four more deaths. Around 11 p.m., the Florida Department of Health posted a new update saying at least 17 people have died in the state from the coronavirus.
The 14th victim was in Palm Beach County, marking the second person to die due to the virus in the county in two days. The state has not yet released the whereabouts of the other victims.
More than 2,000 people were tested over the weekend at a National Guard operated site at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis is in The Villages where another drive-thru COVID-19 testing site will open, operated by University of Florida Shands hospital. Later in the week, the Florida National Guard will open another large-scale operation at the Orange County Convention Center parking lot. A large-scale site is also open in Jacksonville at the Jaguars’ TIAA Bank stadium.
“When this all started in Florida, every sample taken had to be sent to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and that was a very cumbersome process,” DeSantis said Monday at the opening of The Villages site. “A lot of times you didn’t get results for a week. Then we were able to have our three state laboratories certified, since then it’s been liberalized and we can take advantage of resources at places like the University of Florida.”
