Manatee County and Florida set new records for single-day surge in COVID-19 cases

Both the state of Florida and Manatee County saw record surges in the number of new cases of COVID-19, the Florida Department of Health said Friday.

Manatee County recorded 166 new cases. Statewide, there were 8,942 new cases.

The previous daily high in Manatee was 137, recorded on June 20. The previous statewide high were the 5,508 cases reported Wednesday.

No new deaths were reported in Manatee, leaving the death toll at 128 since the start of the pandemic.

There now have have been 2,368 people in Manatee who have tested positive since the first case was recorded on March 1.

The number of cases reported in local long-term care facilities increased to 470, representing about 21 percent of the total number of cases. Eighty of the people who have died were linked to nursing homes or other long-term care facilities in Manatee.

Statewide, the total confirmed case count is 122,960. Another 39 people have died across the state, raising the death toll to 3,366.

Over the last seven days, Florida has reported 29,163 new cases. That’s nearly a quarter of all the confirmed cases in the state so far.

The alarming case total came on a day of record testing, but the percentage of tests coming back positive remains elevated beyond the 10% threshold recommended by public health experts. On Friday, 71,433 people were tested and about 14.74% of those tests came back positive.

Sarasota County added 106 new cases with no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 96.

Manatee County cases from Thursday to Friday:

• Cases increased from 2,202 to 2,368.
• The death toll remains at 128.
• Manatee County’s positivity rate did not immediately update.
• The number of residents hospitalized since the outbreak increased by one to 254.

Sarasota cases from Thursday to Friday:

• Cases increased from 1,139 to 1,245.
• Sarasota County’s positivity rate remained did not immediately update.
• The death toll remains at 96.

Florida cases from Thursday to Friday:

• Cases increased from 114,018 to 122,960.
• The death toll increased from 3,327 to 3,366.

Surrounding counties:

• Desoto County cases increased from 521 to 539. The death toll remains at 10.
• Hardee County cases increased from 340 to 373. The death toll increased from two to three.
• Hillsborough County cases increased from 7,329 to 8,018. The death toll increased from 127 to 132.
• Pinellas County cases increased from 4,669 to 5,099. The death toll increased from 137 to 141.
• Polk County cases increased from 2,571 to 2,780 The death increased from 84 to 87.

This story will be updated.

The Miami Herald contributed to this story.

This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 11:14 AM.