Florida Governor: Virus testing ramped up across state

The governor of the US state of Florida, Ron DeSantis, said on Saturday that the state has increased testing for the coronavirus as cases surge across some U.S. states. He said 2.4 million people had been tested. Testing has increased, but the percentage of people testing positive has risen.

A month ago, fewer than 5% of tests came up positive on a daily average. Over the past week, the daily average exceeded 19%.DeSantis spoke as Florida set a one-week record of nearly 500 confirmed coronavirus deaths. The state health department reported 96 new deaths Saturday, bringing the total for the week to 496 or an average of nearly 71 per day.A record 120 deaths were reported Thursday. Three weeks ago, Florida’s weekly average for deaths stood at 30 per day.

The state on Saturday confirmed 9,960 new coronavirus cases and 421 additional hospitalizations. Since March 1, when the first Florida infections were recorded, the state has reported 254,511 confirmed cases and 4,301 deaths. The previous weekly record average of 60 deaths per day was set on May 8. Throughout May and into June, the state reopened much of its economy with some restrictions.

(Image Credit: AP)