COVID-19 cases in Florida near 63,000 as more businesses reopen

1,270 new coronavirus cases reported Saturday by FDOH

The Florida Department of Health announced new positive coronavirus cases across the state days after the State entered the second phase of reopening.

The Florida Department of Health reported 1,270 new people have tested positive for the respiratory illness.

[READ MORE: Gov. Ron DeSantis says most of Florida will enter phase 2 of reopening Friday]

This brings the state’s total of all confirmed coronavirus cases since the disease was first detected in the state on March 1 to 62,758, as well as a total of 2,688 deaths.

Since March, 10,891 people with severe cases of the virus have required hospitalization. The state does not report the number of current patients in hospitals with the coronavirus or the number of individuals who have recovered from the disease after being diagnosed.

The newly reported cases also depend on the number of tests administered per day but the state doesn’t release private lab testing in its overall total so that percentage is difficult to determine.

[RELATED: Here’s what to expect as Florida enters phase 2 of reopening]

Multiple days this week, Florida has seen an increase of over 1,000 new coronavirus cases.

On Friday, the FDOH reported 1,305 new cases of COVID-19 since approximately the same time the day before and on Thursday, Florida broke its record for a single-day high of newly reported cases of COVID-19, with 1,419 new cases

If you are having trouble viewing the dashboard on mobile, click here.

Here’s a breakdown of coronavirus numbers by county in the Central Florida region:

CountyTotal casesTotal deathsTotal hospitalizations
Brevard4531366
Flagler195422
Lake3211575
Marion274838
Orange2,25645347
Osceola74120157
Polk1,14566335
Seminole52112114
Sumter2611745
Volusia80444152

Universal Orlando became the first of Orlando’s major theme park resorts to reopen by allowing annual pass-holders to return to its three parks Wednesday and Thursday. It opened to the general public Friday for the first time since mid-March.

The number of people allowed in was restricted to allow for social distancing, blue circles on the ground showed visitors where to stand to maintain 6-feet (2 meters) distance and a recording in English and Spanish played in a loop over loudspeakers at the entrance reminding park-goers to wear face masks and keep their distance.

Crosstown rival SeaWorld Orlando is set to reopen next week, as are two other SeaWorld-owned parks in Tampa, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Adventure Island.

Walt Disney World plans to welcome back visitors next month to its parks, and thousands of workers could start being recalled for work starting in mid-June, according to Unite Here Local 362.

To hear more about Central Florida theme parks working to r-open during the pandemic click or tap here.

According to the Associated Press, the government said that U.S. employers added 2.5 million workers to their payrolls last month, spelling a slight gain in the workforce, instead of a projected cut of another 8 million across the nation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While many experts cautioned against too much optimism, reiterating that it’s just one month of data and could be giving false hope, the report gives some hope for the American economy to recover faster than first anticipated.

The small light at the end of the tunnel isn’t spurring much optimism in the state of Florida, however.

While more Floridians will be able to get back to work under phase two, prospects are still grim for many who continue to struggle financially as the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity continues to frustrate many in its process of reimbursing unemployment claims.

Here are some things to know about Florida’s unemployment benefits:

  • The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which handles the state’s unemployment system, is now distributing benefit payments every two weeks instead of weekly.
  • People must log into CONNECT to claim their weeks, as long as they are unemployed, in order to receive payments.
  • This week Florida began administering aid to those who were unemployed prior to coronavirus-related layoffs, known as Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC.

About the Authors:

Erin began her career at News 6 as an assignment editor, then became a show producer. She is now a digital storyteller as part of the Click Orlando team.