According to the Department of Health, the state also logged 9,446 new coronavirus infections, which brings the total number of cases since March to 451,423.
Additionally, hospitalizations increased by 587, which is now the second-highest increase ever reported, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Locally, Orange County reported 371 new cases, for a total of 28,191 since March 1. Osceola added 157 for a total of 8,130. Seminole added 102 for a total of 6,333, and Volusia added 99 new cases for a total of 6,572.
Despite the rising cases and deaths, President Donald Trump is heading to Tampa on Friday to raise money for his reelection campaign, spawning protests.Despite the rising cases and deaths, President Donald Trump is heading to Tampa on Friday to raise money for his reelection campaign.
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Moreover, Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to disavow statistics indicating that Florida is not improving. “I think when you see those reports, those are probably reflective of infections and hospitalizations that have happened in the past,” DeSantis said at a Tuesday press conference. “So it’s more of a lagging indicator, whereas I think the ED (emergency department) visits and some of the hospital visits are more of a leading indicator in terms of where things are trending.”
The pandemic is also wreaking havoc on Florida’s juvenile justice system. The number of youths in Florida’s juvenile justice system who have tested positive for coronavirus has increased by more than 100 during the past week and is up about 90% over the past two weeks, according to the numbers released by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
This story originally appeared in our sister paper Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
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