Washington (dpa) - Some Florida residents flocked to beaches on Saturday after local authorities lifted restrictions despite a surge in coronavirus cases in the south-eastern state.

Beaches in Jacksonville, a US city home to nearly 1 million people, were opened up for surfing or walking, while "non-essential" activities such as sunbathing or congregating remained banned.

The lifting of restrictions came despite the state reporting 1,413 additional coronavirus cases on Friday, Florida's biggest one-day jump since the onset of the crisis, local news station Fox 13 reported.

"If you plan to visit the beach today, please maintain at least six feet between you and others," the city's emergency management service tweeted on Saturday.

Beaches were reopened throughout Jacksonville's Duval County and St. Johns County, both in northern Florida.

The state has so far confirmed a total of 24,753 infections. Beaches remain closed in southern Florida, where the majority of coronavirus cases are concentrated.

Meanwhile in New York, where over 13,000 people have died from Covid-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo said hospitalizations had continued to decline and that the state appears to be "past the plateau and starting to descend."

He called the development "good news" but cautioned that the state was still reporting roughly 2,000 hospitalizations daily from the disease.

"If it wasn't for the relative context that we've been in, this would be devastating news,” Cuomo said.

New York's daily death toll also dropped to 540, down from 630 the previous day, Cuomo said on Saturday.

Cuomo largely refrained from criticising President Donald Trump during the press briefing amid tensions between largely Democratic governors and Trump over when and how to ease lockdown measures in their states.

"In the midst of this, there is no time for politics," Cuomo said.