Florida reports record-shattering 8,900 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, including more than 1,000 in Orange County

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida health officials reported a record-shattering more than 8,900 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, surpassing the previous record set earlier this week by more than 3,000 cases.

The previous record of 5,508 cases in one day was set two days ago.

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On Friday, the state also reported an additional 39 deaths, including one each in Orange and Lake counties and three in Polk County.

The new cases bring the total in Florida up to 122,960 with 3,366 deaths.

READ: Orange County Convention Center COVID-19 testing line cut off early to ‘allow all cars in the queue to be processed’

Officials said statewide cases have increased 224% since Monday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials are blaming young adults for the surge in cases.

DeSantis said it’s better that younger people are testing positive for the virus, because it means they are less likely to need to go to the hospital. But he said it’s bad because they can still spread the virus to older residents.

READ: Who is dying of COVID-19 in Orange County? Breakdown by ethnicity, preexisting conditions

In a news conference on Friday, DeSantis pushed back on the idea of mandating masks statewide. He said it is up to local leaders and individual businesses to do so.

Meanwhile, medical professionals continue to urge people to think about protecting others, especially older Floridians who are most at risk.

“We can all be a risk to someone around us, and while we may not feel bad we can be a risk to those people around us, and so we’re asking for responsible actions,” DeSantis said.

See a county-by-county breakdown of cases below, and click here for an interactive map of cases statewide:

Orange: 7,848 (+1,062)

Seminole: 1,966 (+198)

Volusia: 1,605 (+141)

Brevard: 1,297 (+148)

Osceola: 1,485 (+164)

Lake: 975 (+94)

Sumter: 313 (+5)

Marion: 524 (+31)

Flagler: 274 (+13)

Polk: 2,780 (+209)

Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates.

VIDEO: Florida has highest COVID-19 percentage increase in nation: What that means for us Coronavirus cases are increasing in Florida at a larger rate than anywhere else in the country.

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