TAMPA, Fla. — A new record-high number of COVID-19 cases was reached in Florida on Wednesday morning.
The Florida Department of Health reported 5,511 more coronavirus cases than Tuesday's total number. The increase beats Saturday, June 20's record, which was 4,049.
According to the DOH's dashboard, there are a total of 109,014 cases in Florida for Wednesday, June 24. Of those total positive cases, 106,743 are Florida residents and 2,271 are non-Florida residents.
53 new deaths were reported on Wednesday, which brings the total of those who have died from complications of the novel coronavirus to 3,281.
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The number of positive cases reported in Tampa Bay on June 23 was 1,629. That equates to 29.5 percent of Tuesday's new positive cases in Florida.
Here is a breakdown of Total coronavirus cases to date in the Tampa Bay area:
CITRUS CASES: 219
Residents: 219 Non-Residents: 0
Hospitalizations: 35 Deaths: 12
DESOTO CASES: 513
Residents: 513 Non-Residents: 0
Hospitalizations: 54 Deaths: 10
HARDEE CASES: 334
Residents: 329 Non-Residents: 5
Hospitalizations: 34 Deaths: 2
HERNANDO CASES: 218
Residents: 212 Non-Residents: 6
Hospitalizations: 29 Deaths: 5
HIGHLANDS CASES: 270
Residents: 268 Non-Residents: 2
Hospitalizations: 56 Deaths: 10
HILLSBOROUGH CASES: 6,892
Residents: 6,818 Non-Residents: 74
Hospitalizations: 589 Deaths: 121
MANATEE CASES: 2,132
Residents: 2,116 Non-Residents: 16
Hospitalizations: 253 Deaths: 127
PASCO CASES: 1,084
Residents: 1,073 Non-Residents: 11
Hospitalizations: 111 Deaths: 17
PINELLAS CASES: 4,387
Residents: 4,323 Non-Residents: 64
Hospitalizations: 575 Deaths: 132
POLK CASES: 2,454
Residents: 2,438 Non-Residents: 16
Hospitalizations: 427 Deaths: 80
SARASOTA CASES: 1,091
Residents: 1,061 Non-Residents: 30
Hospitalizations: 188 Deaths: 95
To view the breakdown of the other counties throughout Florida, click here.
The demand for testing is so high that many drive up sites like the one at the Lee Davis community Resource Center in Tampa's Ybor City were forced to close early and to turn people away.
It comes as Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties begin a mandatory mask ordinance, requiring everyone to wear a face covering while visiting any indoor business.
Jon-Paul Lavandeira, the manager of Hillsborough County's COVID testing sites says masks are important to stopping the spread. “It’s tough because it’s hot outside. People don’t want to wear what they need to wear. Out of common practice, people are shaking hands. It’s hard discipline but it’s something we need to do because that’s how little by little we will defeat this invisible enemy,” he said.
If you’re caught not wearing a mask indoors at a business, you could be fined up to $500.
Hillsborough County leaders say there are two bright spots in the latest data, with the median age of people getting COVID between 28 and 35 over the past two weeks, deaths have decreased and hospitals continue to have ICU capacity.
“The discussions we were having weeks and even months ago about not enough ventilators, not enough emergency room beds, we are not in a position of worrying in that respect anymore even with this uptick," Lavandeira said.
Statewide, we’re now up to 109,000 cases of COVID-19, but that's out of 1.6 million people tested.
“It’s kind of to be expected to a point because we’ve also exponentially increased our testing capacity over the last few weeks so the more you search the more you find," Lavandeira explained.
