STATE – Florida broke its record of new coronavirus cases by the thousands on Friday when the state took steps to mitigate the rapid spread of the virus by banning alcohol consumption in bars across the state.
The Florida Department of Health reported Friday that there were 8,942 new positive cases, 39 new deaths and 212 hospitalizations.
The state’s positivity rate for Thursday was 13.05 percent, the Health Department said.
Orange County saw its biggest jump so far in 1,062 new cases. Polk County reported 209 cases, while Seminole County was close to 198. The deaths occurred in Orange, Pinellas and Polk counties, among several others.
In response to the recent surge in infections, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation on Friday suspended alcohol consumption in bars across the state.
Effective immediately, the Department of Commercial and Professional Regulation suspends local alcohol consumption in bars throughout the state.
– HalseyBeshears (@HalseyBeshears) June 26, 2020
This was the biggest jump for a day for the Sunshine State. The Health Department reported Wednesday that there were 5,511 new cases, a record at the time, and the numbers reported Thursday were 5,004.
On Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis stood firm in his decision not to stop plans to reopen the state or make facial coatings mandatory. Local municipalities, however, have imposed their own mask rules.
AdventHealth doctors told Spectrum News that despite seeing an historic record in hospitalizations, they are prepared to handle the increase.
“We have enough personal protective equipment, we have the staff, we have the prospect of having seen patients with COVID. So we know what to expect, but of course, we want to do what we can in the community to keep these cases as low as possible.” said Dr. Vincent Hsu, an infection control officer at AdventHealth.
The hospital chain said that for now, death rates are not increasing rapidly.
Meanwhile in Hillsborough County Emergency Management said its number of coronavirus cases it has increased by more than 60 percent, and of these, 61 percent of patients are under the age of 35.
Doctors stress that wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and hand washing are essential to stop the spread of infections.
Fired Dashboard Creator speaks again
The former Florida Health Department firing official behind the state’s COVID-19 control panel is speaking again after launching her own control panel to track Florida cases.
The agency fired Rebekah Jones, she says because the department asked her to change the data. The state refutes that claim.
Jones’ personal dashboard shows a positive COVID-19 case count much higher than the Health Department official.
In an interview with CNN, Jones said that all his information comes from the state dashboard. She counts the deaths of non-Florida residents, which the state does not count.
She told CNN that it is a mistake.
“It’s not just about people attributed to the wrong state. These are people who got sick and died here in a Florida hospital,” Jones said. “They are not people who got sick and then went home to Massachusetts and died. I think people care more about where the virus is in their community than if someone has a permanent legal address in Florida.”
Jones said he also counts people who tested positive for antibodies, which the state does not.
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