FL​ Saved Nearly 2 Years On Road Work; 7,686 New Cases Of Virus

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday the state had saved nearly two years worth of road construction days by taking advantage of the reduced traffic during the pandemic as health officials reported 7,686 new cases of the virus.

Meanwhile, a Florida Department of Health spokesperson confirmed there was an issue with the state's online coronavirus dashboard that prevented it from being updated with Friday's data until Friday night.

"This issue stems from the vendor that the department has partnered with to create and maintain the dashboard," according to the spokesperson. "The department has engaged with the vendor to resolve this issue as quickly as possible."

DeSantis, speaking earlier Friday said Florida took advantage of the reduced traffic in April and May to make progress on road projects.

"We accelerated over 50 major transportation projects that collectively saved our state 650 calendar days of construction," DeSantis said during a stop in Orlando. "You're keeping people working but you're also making progress. That's going to reduce commute times for people."

He said the I-4 State Road 408 interchange ramp in the Orlando area was accelerated by more than three months.

"Drivers have already told us how their daily commute here in the heart of central Florida has improved," he said. "When you hear traffic and central Florida, you usually don't hear that it's improving."

The Howard Frankland Bridge project in Tampa was accelerated by a month as was the $802 million I-395/I-95 reconstruction project in the Miami area. The widening of Southern Boulevard in Palm Beach County was accelerated by three months while the diverging diamond interchange at Florida Highway A1A and Interstate 95 in Nassau County was accelerated by two months.

The widening and reconstruction of Sand Lake Road near International Drive and Universal Boulevard in the Orlando area was accelerated by four to six weeks, according to DeSantis.

"All in all, you have a difficult situation but you have to look to see OK, what are the opportunities to make progress, even in a very difficult situation," DeSantis said.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the state rose to 518,075 on Friday from 510,389 over the previous 24-hour period.

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Florida health officials reported a total of 7,927 deaths from the virus Friday, up from 7,747 deaths a day earlier. That's an increase of 180 new deaths over the previous 24-hour period, but well under Florida's record of 257 new deaths last Friday. State health officials also reported another 121 deaths involving non-Florida residents who died in the state.

Thirty-three of Florida's 67 counties, which is roughly half, reported new deaths Friday. That compares with 122 new deaths Thursday, 221 new deaths Wednesday (health officials reported 220), 245 new deaths on Tuesday, 74 new deaths Monday, 63 new deaths Sunday, 179 new deaths Saturday, and 270 new deaths last Friday (state health officials reported 257).

• Miami-Dade County reported 25 new deaths and an overall death rate of 1.4 percent.
• Palm Beach County reported 27 new deaths and an overall death rate of 2.6 percent.
• Pasco County reported 18 new deaths and an overall death rate of 1.8 percent.
• Orange County reported 12 new deaths and an overall death rate of .9 percent.
• Duval County also reported 12 new deaths with a death rate of .8 percent.
• St. Lucie County reported 12 new deaths and a death rate of 2.9 percent.
• Pinellas County reported 12 new deaths and a death rate of 2.8 percent.
• Hillsborough County reported eight new deaths and an overall death rate of 1.2 percent.
• Lee County reported six new deaths and an overall death rate of 2.2 percent.
• Brevard County reported six new deaths and a death rate of 2.4 percent.
• Osceola County reported four new deaths and a death rate of 1.1 percent.
• Escambia County reported four new deaths and a death rate of 1.5 percent.
• Martin County reported four more deaths and an overall death rate of 2.4 percent.
• Marion County reported three new deaths and an overall death rate of 1.4 percent.
• Okaloosa County reported three new deaths and a death rate of 1.1 percent.
• Volusia County reported two new deaths and a death rate of 1.7 percent.
• Santa Rosa County reported two new deaths and a death rate of 1 percent.
• Putnam County reported two new deaths and a death rate of 1.7 percent.
• Suwannee County reported two new deaths and a death rate of 3 percent.
• Highlands County reported two new deaths and an overall 2.7 percent death rate.
• Okeechobee County reported two new deaths and a death rate of .9 percent.
• Collier County reported one new death and a death rate of 1.3 percent.
• Seminole County reported one new death and a death rate of 1.6 percent.
• Lake County reported one new death and a death rate of 1.2 percent.
• Leon County reported one new death and a death rate of .5 percent.
• Alachua County reported one new death and a death rate of .7 percent.
• St. Johns County reported one new death and a death rate of 1 percent.
• Columbia County reported one new death and a death rate of .5 percent.
• Indian River County reported one new death and a death rate of 2.1 percent.
• Charlotte County reported one new death and a death rate of 4.2 percent, which was among the highest in the state.
• Hernando County reported one new death and a death rate of 2.2 percent.
• Jackson County reported one new death and a death rate of 2 percent.
• Sumter County reported one new death and overall death rate of 3.3 percent.

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Florida reported a statewide positive rate of 13.27 percent based on 3,903,010 tests as of Friday.

The state reported 29,730 total hospitalizations, up from 29,131 a day earlier. That represents an increase of 599 new hospitalizations over the previous day, which is among the highest increases since the pandemic began.

In an effort to provide as much information to our readers as possible, Patch has been publishing a daily county-by-county breakdown of the coronavirus cases in Florida's 67 counties, along with the median age of patients, the number of hospital cases by county and the number of deaths.

Miami-Dade, which includes Miami and Miami Beach, reported 129,409cases of the virus as of Friday. Nearby Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, reported 60,746 cases. Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Beach, West Palm and Boca Raton, reported 36,114 cases.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 31,865 cases. Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 31,026 cases.

Patch updates this chart once each day based on data provided by the Florida Department of Health. The counties that reported new deaths on Friday are shown in bold.

Here is the most recent data available: