MIAMI _ A record week of surging coronavirus numbers in Florida was heightened on Friday, as state health officials confirmed 8,942 cases, nearly doubling the previous record of cases reported in a single day, two days earlier.
Florida's Department of Health on Friday morning confirmed the cases, bringing the state total to 122,960. The state also announced at least 39 new deaths, bringing the total of COVID-19 deaths north of 3,360.
Over the last seven days, Florida has reported 29,163 new cases. That's nearly a quarter of all the confirmed cases in the state so far.
The alarming case total came on a day of record testing, but the percentage of tests coming back positive remains elevated beyond the 10% threshold recommended by public health experts. On Friday, test results for 71,433 people were reported, and 14.74% of those tests came back positive.
Miami-Dade County saw 1,528 new cases at 14.3% positivity. It was the highest single-day case total of the pandemic despite not being the highest number of test results returned in one day. The county's known total is now at 30,196. The death toll is at 946, the highest in the state.
Broward County saw 750 new cases at 11.7% positivity. The county's confirmed case total is now at 13,320. The death toll is now at 381.
Palm Beach County saw 654 new cases at 10.8% positivity. The county's confirmed case total is now at 12,498. The death toll is 490.
Monroe County saw 15 new cases. The Florida Keys has had a total of 202 cases and four deaths.
