TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida’s outbreak of the coronavirus has now infected nearly 16,000 people, touching every county in the state but one: Liberty County, a rural enclave of 8,300 residents in the state’s panhandle.
As of Thursday, Florida has recorded more than 350 deaths, with at least 2,000 hospitalized for COVID-19.
Thursday’s latest statistics include 666 additional infections and 31 new deaths in Baker, Broward, Dade, Duval, Hillsborough, Manatee, Palm Beach and Volusia counties.
The infections remain concentrated in South Florida, with the epicenter focused on Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
The outbreak has forced bars, restaurants and schools to close and has kept much of the state’s population at home as health officials attempted to slow the spread of the virus and asked Floridians to keep their distance from one another.
Social distancing guidelines have forced schools to shutter – and they will remain closed until the end of the month amid uncertainty over when the 2.9 million children who attend public schools can return to their classrooms.
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has recommended that schools remain closed until May 1. As a result, schools are conducting lessons virtually.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is scheduled to hold a round table Thursday afternoon with Corcoran, as well as the state’s chancellor for K-12 education and other educators.
Meanwhile, travails continued for the state’s jobless as Florida’s unemployment system remained overwhelmed by a deluge of claims for benefits.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that the number of initial claims in Florida for the week ending April 4 fell by 58,599 to 169,885, even as state officials continue to work on adding servers and beefing up phone banks to help with unemployment claims.
Despite those efforts, many of the state’s newly jobless continued to report problems with filing applications or getting help from hotlines.
The Department for Economic Opportunity unveiled a mobile app to help with applications, but it, too, was adding to frustrations among some benefit seekers who could not log in.
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Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
