MIAMI _ Florida's Department of Health on Friday morning confirmed 779 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total of confirmed cases to 24,119. There were 18 additional deaths announced, raising the statewide death toll to 686.
Of the new deaths, 12 were in South Florida, pushing the region's death toll past the 400 mark and into 428.
Three men between the ages of 54 and 92 and four women between the ages of 55 and 83 died in Miami-Dade, raising the county's death toll to 190, the highest in the state.
In Broward, an 80-year-old man and three women between the ages of 55 and 72 died from the disease, raising the county's death count to 105. Palm Beach County reported one additional death, an 85-year-old man, bringing the county's death toll to 113.
The other deaths were in Brevard, Lee, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Sarasota and St. Johns counties.
Health officials say 769 of the new confirmed COVID-19 cases are Florida residents and 10 are non-residents who were diagnosed or isolated in the state. Of the total confirmed cases statewide, 23,443 are Florida residents and 676 are non-residents who were diagnosed or isolated in the state.
Health officials say the state has had a total of 3,507 hospitalizations relating to COVID-19 complications.
The statewide and county-level data for COVID-19 hospitalizations includes anyone who was hospitalized during their illness and "does not reflect the number of people currently hospitalized," according to Florida's Department of Health.
The department says it does not "have a figure" to reflect current hospitalization data.
Thursday was the third consecutive day that the total of new confirmed cases in the state were less than 1,000 It's likely that the number of confirmed cases is significantly undercounted because the state reports only the number of Floridians waiting to hear test results from state labs, not private ones _ and private labs are completing more than 90% of state tests.
The results of thousands of pending tests from private labs have taken as long as two weeks to be added to the state's official count. The state's website does not say its figures exclude the vast majority of pending tests for the novel coronavirus.
While Florida continues to see a daily increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, state and local officials say they are seeing signs that the social distancing measures put in place have been effective and are already forming plans to slowly ease COVID-19 restrictions.
On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said select beaches and parks in the state could reopen if done safely, according to ClickOrlando.com. Duval was the first county to reopen its beaches in the state Friday, according to Miami Herald news partner WLRN.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry wrote on Twitter that all beaches and parks in Duval County would be reopening with limited hours (6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.) for exercise only, including walking, biking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming, taking care of pets and surfing.
Social distancing requirements would still need to be followed and no sunbathing, towels, blankets, chairs, coolers or grills would be allowed, according to the city.
On Monday, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said that the county would be starting discussions with community leaders and health experts to establish a plan that would "allow people in our county to return to as normal a life as possible without jeopardizing the health" of the community.
Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez, who participated in the meeting, said the medical authorities on the call said Miami-Dade's COVID-19 numbers weren't showing a green light yet for looser restrictions.
"They felt we're not there yet, that they wanted to wait until the peak," he said. "The numbers have gotten better, but they're not where they feel comfortable."
Also Thursday, the Florida Department of Health disclosed for the first time that nearly 20% of the state's 668 reported COVID-19 deaths have been at long-term care facilities in 22 counties. Until Thursday, the department had reported 1,454 cases at the 3,800 nursing home and assisted living facilities in Florida but had not acknowledged the 136 deaths.
The numbers might be an undercount because it's not clear if everyone who has died at the facilities since the outbreak began was tested for COVID-19. It's also still unclear which facilities have had residents or staff test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
The Miami Herald, joined by several other news organizations, is planning to file a public records lawsuit over the agency's refusal to release the data. DeSantis tried to block the suit by having his general counsel persuade the Herald's longtime law firm, which has numerous contracts with state agencies, to withdraw from representing the news outlet. The Herald has found another law firm to handle the suit.
