Manatee sets record with 62 new COVID-19 cases. Almost 1,500 residents have been infected
Manatee County on Tuesday set a single-day record for new COVID-19 cases — 62. Statewide, the Florida Department of Health reported 2,783 new cases, also a daily record.
One person in Manatee County has also died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus That death was among 55 new deaths reported across the state.
The death toll in Manatee County now stands at 116, while statewide, 2,993 have died.
A total of 1,483 people have tested positive for the virus in Manatee County since the county’s first case, which was also the state’s first case, was reported in March. Across Florida, there have been 80,109 people who have tested positive.
Manatee County has had an uptick in cases in recent days, with a total of 230 additional positive tests reported since Friday. The overall positive rate increased two tenths of a percentage from Monday to Tuesday, with 5.3% of the 28,148 people tested total being positive for the virus.
Of the 524 test results reported on Tuesday by the health department, 11.8% were positive.
Dr. Jennifer Bencie, who heads the Manatee County Department of Health, did not respond to a request comment about the recent uptick in cases locally.
The state slowly began to reopen in May. Now in June, most businesses across the state are open at limited capacity with social-distancing regulations in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
A Miami Herald analysis of public and non-public COVID-19 data found that as of June 3, new cases in the state had consistently been trending up since mid-May and the trends could not be attributed solely to increases in testing, which had been inconsistent and sometimes declining during that period.
And as bars, gyms, vacation rentals and movie theaters reopened at partial capacity in all but three South Florida counties, the number and rate of new COVID-19 cases were rising statewide — a troubling indicator that the disease could be spreading more quickly.
In Sarasota County, there were nine new positive cases on Tuesday, raising the county’s total of cases to 789. The death of one more person makes 92 total who have died from COVID-19.
There were 203 new positive cases reported in Hillsborough County making 4,029 total to date. There have now been 103 people who have died from the disease.
In Pinellas County, there were 134 new cases, making 2,523 people total who have been tested positive. A total of 107 people have also died from the disease.
The Miami Herald contributed to this story.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 11:08 AM.
