CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Florida posted a record 1,900 new coronavirus cases Friday, pushing its total over 70,000 since the outbreak began three months ago and continuing an upward trend propelled partly by increased testing but also by a higher percentage of tests coming back positive.
The state reported that more than 5% of tests have turned up positive the last three days, up from 2.5 and 4.5% the previous week. About 30 more people died, pushing the total to 2,877, but the daily figure is down significantly from the 60 deaths per day the state was averaging in early May at its peak.
Gov. Ron DeSantis told a news conference at the University of Miami that both the increased raw number of new cases and the higher percentage of positive cases are partly caused by opening up testing to anyone who wants it. He doesn’t think they are tied to the reopening of the state last month or Memorial Day gatherings.
He said many of the new positive cases are young adults who show no symptoms and are the least likely to become seriously ill, but they now know to isolate themselves to avoid spreading the disease. He said coronavirus hospitalizations are down statewide compared to May.
He also said some of the increase has been caused by outbreaks among migrant farm workers, who now have easier access to testing in their communities. He said as summer is the time of year many of them leave Florida for work elsewhere, the state is contacting other states to apprise them.
“These are workers that are working close together and once somebody gets it, it tends to spread very rapidly,” DeSantis said. “The good thing is that these are low-risk groups, so almost none of them wind up hospitalized.”
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