Florida Heads Into The Weekend With A Third Spike In COVID-19 Cases

It has been a week for the Sunshine State. Florida COVID-19 cases see another spike following two consecutive days of high numbers. The news comes just a few days following the governor's announcement that the state will enter its phase 2 recovery plan.

One day after Florida set a record for daily novel coronavirus cases, the state again saw its count hit more than 1,000. The Florida Department of Health showed the state reaching 1,305 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases within the state to 61,488. 

In just 72 hours, the state has recorded over 4,041 new cases. In addition, the state's health department announced 52 new deaths from the novel coronavirus over that three-day period, bringing the death toll to 2,660. 

South Florida continues to lead the state during the pandemic.  Dade county accounts for a majority of results, with 19,056 total sick and 760 deaths. 

While the total amount of COVID-19 cases is high, the positivity rate, the number of residents testing positive against testing numbers, remains low, with 5.4% testing positive for the virus, according to the state's COVID-19 dashboard. 

Overall, the state has tested 1,135,865 people. There have been 61,488 positive results compared to 1,073,452 negative tests. 

The continual jump in cases comes after Gov. DeSantis said Florida could transition into phase 2 on Friday.

Most of the state has implemented the next steps, which allowed bars and other entertainment facilities to reopen with 50% capacity. Parts of South Florida were temporarily excluded from this move.

While the state deals with the novel coronavirus, protests throughout the state continue.

Officials in Broward and Miami-Dade County issued curfews earlier in the week, but have since eased on them. Miami-Dade pushed its curfew back to midnight and Broward to drop theirs altogether.

As the state transitions into its phase 2 plan, it's unclear how the increase in cases will affect the governor's recovery plan to move into stage three.