ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida continues to see record-high spikes in the new COVID-19 cases in the state, and on Saturday the health department reported another 9,585 newly-confirmed cases.
That number is now the highest single-day jump in new coronavirus cases in Florida since tracking began in March, breaking Friday's previous record of 8,942 new cases, according to data from the Department of Health.
For context, a record-breaking 78,345 tests were also done within the last day. The state says 12.82 percent of those tests were positive.
We've been tracking daily deaths, based on state data. The number of newly-reported deaths in the last 24 hours was 25 -- which is fewer than previous days. However, the hospitalization number is still hovering above 14,000.
Previously, Friday had the highest single-day jump in new COVID-19 cases, eclipsing Wednesday's previous record of 5,508 new cases, according to data from the Department of Health.
Saturday's report is the first time new cases have topped 9,500, and was the fourth day in a row new case reports were more than 5,000.
Here's a breakdown of the new coronavirus cases reported by the state on each day for the past week:
- June 18: 3,207
- June 19: 3,822
- June 20: 4,049
- June 21: 3,494
- June 22: 2,926
- June 23: 3,286
- June 24: 5,508
- June 25: 5,004
- June 26: 8,942
- June 27: 9,585
While the number of new cases each day continues to rise, all eyes are also on the percent positivity rate and the number of people being tested each day. As we mentioned, that most recent rate for new cases is 12.82 percent, a slight decrease from Friday's 12.93 percent.
Percent positivity rate in Florida:
Daily new cases in Florida:
Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state and federal leaders continue to point to increased testing as the cause for the rise in new cases each day. As of Saturday, more than 1.8 million people in the state have been tested.
On Thursday afternoon, DeSantis held a news conference at a Tampa high school and took questions from reporters regarding the state's response to COVID-19. The governor said the state needs to reduce the percent positivity rate, but also reiterated his comments about testing causing the jumps in cases.
"Some of what you're seeing...is mass testing regardless of symptoms," DeSantis said Thursday.
In response to a question about Texas pausing its reopening plan, DeSantis said "We are where we are. I didn't say we were going to the next phase."
Florida is currently in Phase Two of reopening, which began on June 5.
On Friday, the state suspended drinking at bars in response to the recent climb in newly-reported coronavirus cases.
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