Florida appears to top New York in COVID-19 cases

Florida jumped ahead of New York in confirmed cases of COVID-19 according to the CDC’s data, after the Sunshine State reported another 12,199 infections on Saturday.

The state says 414,511 people have been diagnosed with the disease, placing it number two in the nation and now in front of New York State and its 411,140 cases. California leads the way with 425,616, based on the COVID Data Tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Florida Department of Health also said another 126 people have died from COVID-19 complications, for a total of 5,894 deaths in Florida. Statistics show that more than 80 percent of residents who have died were 65 or older.

The state’s death rate has been steadily rising for the past four weeks; the state has reported over 100 deaths on nine of the past 12 days. A record 173 fatalities were added on Thursday. Due to a reporting lag, many deaths happen weeks before showing up on the daily reports.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sunsentinel.com and on Twitter @marcjfreeman.

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