Florida’s 2nd Day of 500+ New COVID Cases; Apex Eludes (March 26, 2020)

Local officials across the state issue “safer at home” directives as Governor Ron DeSantis diddles out unenforceable executive orders and Florida sees its second straight day of 500+ new Coronavirus positives on the record. Public health officials report 507 new cases in the past 24 hours (and 510 the day before). The statewide total stands at 2,484.

– Gypsy C. Gallardo for Power Broker Media Group

The Tampa Bay regional reached 316 COVID-19 positives across the six counties being tracked by Power Broker Media (a single day increase of 18% over yesterday’s report of 268). By day’s end, case totals were as follows:

Hillsborough County – 151 (up 28 since yesterday’s 123 cases)

Pinellas County – 65 (up 11 since yesterday’s 54 cases)

Polk County – 20 (up 5 since yesterday’s 15 cases)

Manatee County – 25 (down 1 since yesterday’s 26 cases)

Sarasota County – 34 (up 2 since yesterday’s 32 cases)

Pasco County – 21 (up 3 since yesterday’s 18 cases)

For the first time today, all six counties above report COVID-related deaths (a combined 7 people who’ve lost their lives to the virus). The disease is thought to be responsible for at least 29 deaths across Florida as of this evening. The health community has administered 29,114 tests statewide.

Meanwhile, the #ShutDownFlorida petition at Change.org has garnered nearly 53,000 new signatures in the past day; just over 299,000 people have signed-on urging Governor DeSantis to issue statwide orders. To lend your voice, sign the petition at this link.

Here is a running daily tally of Florida cases since Power Broker Media began issuing daily reports:

March 20 – 563 positives (up 131 from day before)

March 21 – 763 (up 200 from day before)

March 22 – 1,007 (up 244 from day before)

March 23 – 1,227 (up 220 from day before)

March 24 – 1,467 (up 240 from day before)

March 25 – 1,977 (up 510 from day before)

March 26 – 2,484 (up 507 from day before)

Tonight’s COVID-19 Dashboard Map of Florida Cases