Florida reports highest jump in coronavirus cases since pandemic began

1,419 new cases in 24 hours is state’s highest daily increase since pandemic arrived in Florida

FILE - In this May 20, 2020, file photo, Salt Lake County Health Department public health nurse Lee Cherie Booth performs a coronavirus test outside the Salt Lake County Health Department in Salt Lake City. Utah is seeing a spike in new COVID-19 cases about a month after many businesses were allowed to reopen, leading state health officials to issue renewed pleas for people to maintain social distancing. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) (Rick Bowmer, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health reported Thursday morning that the state now has 60,183 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 1,419 cases in the last 24 hours.

That is the highest one-day jump in cases since the pandemic reached Florida. The previous one-day high was 1,413 cases reported April 17.

Recommended Videos



The large increase follows another jump in cases Wednesday, when the state health department reported an additional 1,317 cases in 24 hours.

It’s unclear if the increase in cases is a result of large dumps of testing data or if the state is seeing a resurgence of cases following the reopening of the economy. It comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis is making a play to have the GOP convention moved from North Carolina to Florida.

According to the state DOH, no new Northeast Florida deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, and one patient -- an 87-year-old man (case counted 5/20) whose death had been assigned to Clay County was moved to Duval County.

Another patient, a 91-year-old man whose case was first counted March 18, was also moved out of Duval County’s count.

That means Duval County has reported 51 deaths among 1,702 cases and Clay County has reported 32 deaths among 394 cases.

The state reports 2,607 people have now died of the virus, 10,652 have been hospitalized and 60,183 have now tested positive for the disease.

Complete coronavirus data for Northeast Florida counties

PERSPECTIVE: From 2 cases of coronavirus in Florida to 57,447 in 3 months