Florida coronavirus: State adds over 8,500 new cases to record weekend total

TAMPA (WFLA) — Florida’s state health department reported over 8,500 new cases of coronavirus Sunday.

The state added 8,530 new cases Sunday amounting to a record weekend total of 18,115. There have been 141,075 cases of the virus reported in Florida since the pandemic began.

The health department also reported 108 new hospitalizations and 29 additional deaths.

The state said a total of 72,195 people got tested Saturday– adding to a record-high weekend test count. The percent positivity for new cases— the number of people who tested positive for the first time divided by all the people tested that day — on Saturday was 12.4%.

The state started releasing the median age of cases by day in its daily report last week. The median age on Friday followed a three-day trend of 34. The median age jumped to 36 on Saturday.

Tampa Bay area counties have reported an upward trend in young adults testing positive for the virus.

According to DeSantis, a similar trend is being seen in counties throughout the state.

“What we’ve seen, particularly over the last week, is a real explosion in new cases among our younger demographics,” he said. “When we started this in March, the median age of people who tested positive was – I think – 65. As the testing ramped up, that went into the 50s. But it was pretty much in the 50s for most of the time and then just recently has really plunged.”

The state report released Sunday shows Floridians in the 25 – 34 age range account for the largest percentage of cases. A total of 27,760 people in that age group have tested positive – 20% of the state’s total. Of those cases, 842 people have been hospitalized and 19 have died.

Here is the county-by-county breakdown across Tampa Bay as of Sunday: