Florida governor finally releases the true numbers of people hospitalized with coronavirus

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finally caved in to pressure to release the actual numbers of coronavirus cases in the state's hospitals.

Until Friday, DeSantis had refused to reveal the true numbers, leaving many in the state unaware of just how bad the cases were. According to the Orlando Sentinel, a whopping 7,000 Floridians are in hospitals hoping they survive the virus.

"The data, which for the first time breaks down the number of people in the hospital with coronavirus, was promised by the state two weeks ago," the report explained.

"As of Friday, Miami-Dade had more than 1,500 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the largest number reported in Florida, followed by Broward County at 970 and Palm Beach County at 600. Orange County had the fourth-largest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations at 478," the numbers revealed.

Until now, Florida has been one of only three states hiding the truth about the COVID-19 hospitalizations from the public. DeSantis has been criticized for refusing to release the data, which researchers and epidemiologists have said is important for their calculations in measuring the spread of the disease.

President Donald Trump, who was in Miami-Dade County Friday afternoon, has celebrated the COVID-19 cases, saying that the death rate is going down and all is well. In fact, the death rates are beginning to increase.

Often what occurs is the cases of COVID-19 increase, then the hospitalizations increase, and then the death rate goes up. Trump's victory lap occurred when people were just beginning to go into hospitals as the virus got worse for them.

Read the full report from the Orlando Sentinel.