Contact: Joint Information Center on COVID-19 for the State of Florida (850) 815-4940, ESF14@em.myflorida.com

Florida Department of Health Announces More Comprehensive Reports, Issues Once-Daily COVID-19 Update

~29,996 positive cases in Florida residents and 843 positive cases in non-Florida residents~ 

TALLAHASSEE — Today, the Florida Department of Health announced that, in order to provide more comprehensive data, the Department will now release this report on COVID-19 cases in Florida once per day. The Florida Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard will also provide updates once per day. As a part of this change, the state will also provide a report detailing surveillance data for every Florida county. Previously, this information was only available for select communities. The Department of Health will issue the new surveillance report for all counties this afternoon.

Today, as of 11 a.m., there are 306 new positive COVID-19 cases and nine deaths related to COVID-19. There are a total of 30,839 Florida cases** with 1,055 deaths related to COVID-19.

To date, there have been 356 long-term care facilities associated with positive cases of COVID-19. The Florida Department of Health has published the list here. The daily COVID-19 report also includes information by county about deaths related to staff or residents in long-term care facilities. Of the 2,748 cases of residents or staff in long-term care facilities, 299 have died. 

While Florida’s testing continues to increase, the percent of those testing positive for COVID-19 overall has decreased from 10 percent to 9 percent. Of the 15,579 tests performed on April 24, there were 1,331 positive results, or 9 percent.

Since 6 p.m. on April 24, nine people have died who tested positive for COVID-19 in Dade and Suwannee counties.

New Florida cases include:

• 306 additional positive COVID-19 cases (289 Florida residents and 17 non-Florida residents) reported to the Florida Department of Health.
• There are currently 29,996 positive cases in Florida residents and 843 positive cases in non-Florida residents.

Florida recently partnered with private laboratories around the state to expand COVID-19 laboratory testing capacity. This partnership will increase the number of tests conducted each day and ensure Floridians receive the critical health information they need in a timely manner.

Expansion to private laboratories changes the COVID-19 testing landscape in Florida. Private laboratories are running tests as they receive swab samples from practitioners. Testing and reporting times vary among commercial and DOH laboratories. Demographic information may be updated during investigations. These twice daily reports reflect the state’s efforts to accurately and transparently share information. 

More information on a case-by-case basis can also be found here.