WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — State coronavirus cases skyrocketed by a record 3,207 and additional deaths climbed in one day from 25 to 43 for a total of 3,061, including six in Palm Beach County, the Florida Department of Health announced Thursday.
The cases record shattered by 624 the the previous mark of 2,583 set two days earlier. On Wednesday, the cases rose by 2,610.
Testing has ramped up, including massive sites throughout Florida, and the state has eased restrictions. However, the overall positive rate also has been trending up in the past week -- from 5.3 percent to 5.7 percent in one week -- and 12.4 percent in daily test reported Thursday.
Cases have climbed to 85,926 since the first two were announced on March `1.
For 15 of past 16 days, the cases have been four digits. Last Thursday's increase was 1,698.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday the increase in number of coronavirus cases was expected because of the increased testing throughout the state.
"As you test more, you will see more cases," the governor said.
Residents' cases have risen by at least 1,000 for two weeks in a row with an increase of 3,178 Thursday and 83,854 total. The total number of deaths, including nonresidents, was 3,154, a statistic the state doesn't list on its dashboard or daily report.
Florida's increased cases were the third largest in the nation, behind California's 3,787 and Texas' 3,357.
South Florida had 1,350 new cases, which is 44.1 percent, including 382 in Palm Beach County, 611 in Miami-Dade and 289 in Broward. In the Treasure Coast area there, there were 68 more cases – 28 in Indian River, 20 in St. Lucie, 13 in Martin and 7 in Okeechobee. Wednesday's increase was 98.
Palm Beach County's increase is less than the record set Sunday of 391, for a total of 9,854, third behind Broward. Miami-Dade is in first place with 23,854 cases. Broward is at 10,111.
Palm Beach County, which gained 10 deaths last Thursday, has been second in the state for deaths behind Miami-Dade.
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Palm Beach County has risen by 1,967 cases in one week for a 24.9 percent gain.
Over seven days, Martin County climbed by 304 cases for 29.8 percent, St. Lucie County rose by 297 for 39.1 percent, Indian River County by 79 for 44,6 percent and Okeechobee County by 58 for 39.5 percent.
Since Memorial Day, the increase is more pronounced, especially in the Treasure Coast. There was a 66 percent state increase. In Palm Beach County it was 84 percent compared with Broward at 50 percent and Miami-Dade at 37 percent. Okeechobee rose by 223 percent, followed by St. Lucie at 161 percent, Martin at 160 percent and Indian River at 143 percent.
Deaths climbed by 221 in the state over seven days for 7.8 percent and in Palm Beach County it was 43 for 10.6 percent. The U.S. figures are 4.0 percent with the world 7.7 percent.
On Wednesday, the state death toll rose by 25 compared with 55 Tuesday, 7 Monday and 6 Sunday. Traditionally statistics are lower from weekend data. Last Thursday, the increase was 47.
In the Treasure Coast area, Martin's rose by 1 to 19 with the death of a 99-year-old man, the oldest ever in the county. Remaining the same were St. Lucie with 40, Indian River with 12 and Okeechobee none.
The state record is 83 on Tuesday, April 28. Twice, the increase was 72 – once in April and once last month. In Palm Beach County the record is 17 twice.
Miami-Dade County has the most deaths in the state, rising by 9 to 859. Broward increased by 5 to 365 and has risen by only 14 in one week. Lee is in fourth place with 138 with an increase of 1.
With 21 of the 43 additional deaths, South Florida accounts for 1,745 deaths for 57.0 percent of the state total though the population comprises 30 percent.
The state positive test rate increased to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent and 5.3 percent one week ago with the rate more than 10 percent for several weeks. The most recent positive daily climbed 2.1 percentage points from 10.3 percent the day before.
In all, there were 25,551 tests compared with 25,462 additional tests the day before. Total tests reached 1,512,315 with 1,425,386 negative results and the remaining 1,003 inconclusive or not reported.
The mortality rate involving positive cases is 3.6 percent in the state compared with 5.3 percent in the United States and 5.3 percent worldwide, which passed 455,000 deaths and neared 8.6 million cases Thursday. Palm Beach County's rate was 4.6 percent, compared with Broward at 3.7 percent and Miami-Dade with 3.7 percent. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.9 percent in St. Lucie, 4.7 percent in Indian River and 1.4 percent in Martin.
Two people from 15-24 in the state have died from the virus in data through Tuesday – a 22-year-old woman from Palm Beach County announced Tuesday and a 23-year-old woman from Miami-Dade earlier. A total of 18 people from 25 to 34 have died. The oldest are two 104-year-old women, including one from Sarasota on Saturday and the previous from Hillsborough. A total of 1,094 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, 21 additional ones Thursday. The median age is 47.
Ninety-four percent of the fatalities are 55 and older and 64 percent 75 and older in data. A smaller percentage of older people have tested positive – 35 percent age 55 and older -- compared with 40 percent two weeks ago -- and 1`1 percent 75 and older.
At the other end of the age spectrum, there are 1,072 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 51 in one day, and 5 1 were hospitalized. From ages 5-14, there are 2,292, up 81, with 44 in the hospital at one time.
In Palm Beach County, the oldest are two 102-year-old females.
The 6 deaths confirmed in the county Thursday include 3 men and 3 women, ranging from 55 to 87.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 18 states, including Delaware with 431.
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 2,164, an increase of 100. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, rose from 2,041 to 2,108. Boynton Beach with 919 vs. 897 Boca Raton 872 vs. 836, followed by Delray Beach with 686 vs. 665 and Belle Glade with 514, an increase of 7. Port St. Lucie leads the Treasure Coast with 695, an increase of 9.
In Indian River, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, increased by 12 to 50 compared to only 3 on May 31.
The state doesn't list total deaths by city.
Palm Beach County has 9,854 cases out of 114,981 total tested for 8.6 percent, not including those awaiting tests and inconclusive. Anything above 10.0 percent is considered out of "target range" by the health department.
Miami-Dade leads with 23,854 positive cases out of 250,626 tested for 9.5 percent, and Broward is second with 10,111 cases and 154,387 tested for 6.5 percentage.
In St. Lucie, it's 1,057 positive out of 18,461 for 5.7 percent, Martin with 1,324 of 13,632 for 9.7 percent, Indian River with 283 out of 9,606 for 3.0 percent and Okeechobee with 207 out of 2,497 for 8.3 percent.
An infant has tested positive in every South Florida county.
A total of 12,577 people in the state have been hospitalized at one time, which is 188 more than the day before, a rise of 1,016 in one week. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died. Including nonresidents, the number is 1,524 in Palm Beach County, an increase of 19 compared with 32 the day before, followed by 147 total in St. Lucie, which is an increase of 7; 132 in Martin, which is an increase of 1; 44 in Indian River, a decrease of 2, and 20 in Okeechobee, which is an increase of 1. Sometimes the state adjusts its data.
More than half of the deaths, 1,612, are residents and staff of long-term care, including 189 in Palm Beach County. The rise was 24 in the state in one day and 2 in Palm Beach County.
Florida, which is third-most-populous state, is in 10th place, 7 behind Louisiana, according to Worldometers.info.
Florida has 143 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 365 per million. New York, which represents 26 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,598 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 58.4 per million.
National data
Worldometers lists the death toll at 120,688 with 747 fatalities Thursday and nine days in a row of deaths under 1,000, including 809 Wednesday. Johns Hopkins reports 118,926 deaths.
Cases hit 2,263,651 with 27,924 additional ones Thursday. Last Thursday, there were 904 additional deaths and 23,457 more cases.
The one week U.S. death increase had a gain of 4,654.
California reported the most additional deaths, 76, and is in seventh place. North Carolina reported the second most, 54, and is in 21st place with 1,235.
The others in the top 10 were No. 1 New York with 46 after a high of 799 in April, No. 2 New Jersey with 36, No. 3 Massachusetts with 36, No. 5 Pennsylvania with 39, No. 6 Michigan with 25, No. 8 Connecticut with 7, No. 9 Louisiana with none.
Washington, which was the original epicenter in the United States, is in 20th place with an increase of 19.
One week ago Thursday in the United States, were 116,034, two weeks ago there were 1110,415, three weeks ago there were 103,563, four weeks ago 96,5695, five weeks ago 87,500, six weeks ago 77,114, seven weeks ago 64,018, eight weeks ago 50,361 nine weeks ago 34,994, 10 weeks ago 19,847, 11 weeks ago 7,592, 12 weeks ago 1,616, 13 weeks ago 239, 12 weeks ago 41, 15 weeks ago 12, 16 weeks ago 0.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 14.6 percent of the 5,126 additional deaths – a percentage that has been declining – and 26.5 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total. The one week world death increase was 32,492.
The death toll Wednesday was 5,264.
Brazil, which is second behind the United States for deaths, reported 1,204 additional fatalities, which was 5 less than Wednesday's mark. The record is 1,492 last week. The total is 47,869 compared with 34,039 two weeks ago. Brazil also reported 23,050 cases after a record 37,278 Tuesday. The South American nation is in second place behind the United States with 983,359.
Mexico reported 667 more deaths late Thursday compared with 770 Wednesday as well as 5,662 cases. The nation's deaths have risen from 12,545 to 19,747 in two weeks into seventh place.
India reported 342 deaths -- one more than Wednesday to rise to 12,604 in eighth place, compared with about half as many two weeks ago, 6,363. The Asian nation also reported a record 13,827 cases.
Five European nations are in the top 10.
The United Kingdom's deaths dropped from 184 to 135 for third place with 42,288 – behind the United States and Brazil. The high was 1,172.
Fourth-place Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter and reached 919 in one day, reported 66 after 43 Wednesday, among the lowest since March. No. 4 Spain has remained at 961 since April 2.
No. 5 France climbed by 28 Thursday -- the same as the day before -- and a high of 1,494.
No. 9 Belgium added 8 after 12 the day before.
Germany, which dropped out of the top 10 Monday, gained 19. Its replacement in 10th, Iran, added 87.
Canada reported 46 more deaths in 12th place.
No. 13 Russia had 182 additional deaths and 7,790 cases and a total of 561,091 behind the United States and Brazil.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity," reported 12 new deaths to rise to 5,053 for 16th place as well as 1,481 new cases. Neighboring Norway reported 1 death to rise to 244 as well as 16 more cases.
China, the original epicenter of the world but now in 18th place, hasn’t reported a death since April 26 and added 32 cases Friday. The 57 cases Sunday were the highest since 89 on April 13.
