ORLANDO, Fla. – A little more than a month after reporting its first case of the novel coronavirus, Florida now has 15,698 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the latest information from the Florida Department of Health.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, 323 people had died due to complications from the respiratory illness and 2,082 have been hospitalized during their battle with COVID-19. Since the virus takes about two weeks to run its course, the hospitalization numbers reflect the number of people who have been in a facility since Florida began reporting cases not the amount of people hospitalized at one time.
More than 144,500 people have been tested across the state, and about 10.7% of those tests came back positive. Gov. Ron DeSantis has touted Florida’s testing initiatives, saying as of Saturday Florida had tested more than any other state except New York.
Florida remains under a stay-at-home order until April 30.
Millions of Floridians are unable to work due to coronavirus pandemic and scores have been unable to file for unemployment due to problems with the Department of Economic Opportunity’s website and call center, which was ill-equipped to face the magnitude of applications.
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Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity spent more than $25 million over the past two weeks on improvements to the computer and phone systems it uses to collect unemployment benefits applications, records show.
The DEO introduced paper unemployment applications last week and for those still experiencing problems with printing or downloading the forms, they can be picked up free of charge at CareerSource and FedEx locations around Florida.
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In the Central Florida region, Orange County reported its 11th death since the first case was reported in Florida just over a month ago. All 10 counties in the region are reporting dozens of COVID-19 cases and at least one fatality.
Here’s the breakdown of cases locally:
| County | Cases to date | Hospitalizations | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 105 | 30 | 2 |
| Flagler | 36 | 6 | 1 |
| Lake | 139 | 32 | 2 |
| Marion | 68 | 6 | 2 |
| Orange | 824 | 106 | 11 |
| Osceola | 277 | 78 | 4 |
| Polk | 206 | 68 | 6 |
| Seminole | 218 | 48 | 1 |
| Sumter | 91 | 27 | 7 |
| Volusia | 165 | 40 | 3 |
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering changing its guidelines for self-isolation to make it easier for people who have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus to return to work if they are without symptoms. The public health agency and the White House are considering an announcement as soon as Wednesday.
Around the world, more than 1.4 million people have been infected with the virus and more than 83,560 people have died, including 12,911 in the U.S. alone.
The Chinese city at the heart of the global pandemic, Wuhan, reopened Wednesday after 76 days in lockdown. Elsewhere, the economic, political and psychological toll of fighting the new coronavirus grew increasingly clear and more difficult to bear.
New York endured one of its darkest days so far, with the virus death toll surging past the number killed on 9/11. It recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths, its biggest one-day jump yet, for a statewide toll of nearly 5,500.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that the agency had contracted General Motors to make 30,000 ventilators. The first round of 6,000 will be delivered by June 1, according to a news release.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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