HOLT, Fla., March 30, 2020—Florida hit another milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic by topping more than 5,000 positive cases.

Numbers continue to rise and are creeping close to the 6,000 figure. Florida now has more than 5,700 positive cases and 71 deaths attributed to the virus according to the Florida Department of Health.

This afternoon, neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, said Florida’s peak is expected for the middle of May.

In Okaloosa County, the first death from the coronavirus was noted as an 87-year-old male.

Positive cases are in Destin, Niceville, Fort Walton Beach, Crestview, Mary Ester and Shalimar.

Neighboring county Santa Rosa has had two deaths from the virus adding to the state’s total.

Walton County has yet to record a death from the coronavirus. Escambia County has 42 cases and no deaths.

In Alabama, the counties bordering northwest Florida—Baldwin, Escambia and Covington—have 19, 1 and 2 positive cases, respectively, with no deaths recorded yet, according to Alabama Public Health.

The United States leads the world in the number of positive cases with more than 160,000, with the numbers climbing rapidly.

Italy’s cases have also risen above 100,000 with more than 101,700, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID19 data dashboard.

U.S. locations are listed in the top 11 locations behind Hubei, China. New York has the most cases in the country at more than 67,800. Florida is listed sixth in the United States behind New York, New Jersey, California, Michigan and Massachusetts.

The other five states rounding out the top 11 worldwide locations are Illinois, Washington, Pennsylvania and Louisiana.

Stephanie Holcombe