New same-day cases of coronavirus across Florida reached a sickening new record of 4,049 on Friday, according to data released on Saturday (updated to source from DOH, see editor's note below).
The Florida Department of Heath reports the state has had 93,797 total patients testing positive since the pandemic began, with 73,493 cases currently active.
There were 37 new deaths statewide on Friday, bringing the overall death toll to 3,144.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties posted a combined total of 1,483 new cases, or more than a third of Friday's statewide jump. Hillsborough County had the fourth-highest total with 337, and Orange County had the fifth-highest number of new cases reported on Saturday with 295.
In the alternate (and likely more accurate) universe represented by former DOH data scientist Rebekah Jones, the state has surpassed six digits already, with 101,391 COVID-positive people since March 1.
At a Friday press event at Florida International University, Gov. Ron DeSantis pointed to increases in testing as the culprit for the soaring numbers.
"Our testing capacity is much greater than it was," DeSantis said. "A lot of the people who are tested [now] not are asymptomatic. They're testing everybody who comes in."
The event was more scripted and controlled than the more ad-libbed and clumsy presser DeSantis held on Tuesday, where he misstated the percentage of Orlando International Airport workers who tested positive, and offended farmworkers by saying the state's soaring rates are "overwhelmingly Hispanic."
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