Florida coronavirus deaths surpass 2,100 as state adds 56 more

As Florida continues an attempt to return to life as it was — allowing gym workouts to resume, beckoning tourists back to the iconic Keys and planning for universities to welcome students in the fall — the state’s death toll from the novel coronavirus continues to climb.

On Tuesday, it surpassed 2,100, with 14 new deaths reported in the Tampa Bay region.

While Floridians make their way back out into their communities, these are the latest numbers on coronavirus cases across the state and Tampa Bay.

What’s happening across the state?

Florida on Tuesday recorded 56 new deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Its total death count rose to 2,129.

The state also added 502 cases of the virus, bringing its total tally of confirmed infections to 46,944.

In recent days, newly reported deaths in the state have slowed. There’s generally an uptick in deaths recorded on Tuesdays, following the low numbers posted on Sundays and Mondays.

Over the past week, the state on average has recorded about 39 new deaths each day.

The number of deaths tied to long-term care centers across the state continues to increase. On Tuesday, 938 deaths — 44 percent of the state’s overall fatalities — could be attributed to residents and staff of nursing homes and other care centers.

For weeks, new reported cases of the virus were clearly declining, but at the end of April, the growth rate started to flatten. In recent days, the rate has started moving upward with the state averaging about 780 new confirmed coronavirus cases each day.

The percentage of tests coming back positive for COVID-19 has fallen to 6.5 percent, according to the state.

What’s the latest in Tampa Bay?

The death toll in the broader Tampa Bay area grew to 294 Tuesday, with the addition of 14 reported deaths.

The counties that make up the greater Tampa Bay region — Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk — together account for 4,936 cases.

More than half of the area’s deaths, or 170, can be tied to long-term care facilities.

Manatee County, where several large outbreaks have occurred in nursing homes, continues to lead the region in reported deaths with 83.

The deaths reported Tuesday were: five women in Hillsborough aged 71, 80, 84, 88 and 90; two women, aged 73 and 74, and a 73-year-old man in Pasco; two men aged, 82 and 75, and an 81-year-old woman in Pinellas; two women aged 84 and 89 in Polk; and an 80-year-old Manatee man.

A Tampa Bay Times analysis published this week found that more than 80 percent of the region’s deaths are among people 65 and older. Manatee County, as of last week, had one of the highest rates of death from the coronavirus in the state.

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Hillsborough County continues to have the most confirmed infections.

As of the latest counts, Hillsborough had 1,670 cases and 63 deaths; Pinellas had 1,062 cases and 72 deaths; Manatee had 888 cases and 83 deaths; Polk had 766 cases and 45 deaths; Pasco had 327 cases and 13 deaths; Citrus had 114 cases and 12 deaths; and Hernando had 109 cases and six deaths.

On Monday, the state reported 110 cases in Hernando County in its data, but on Tuesday, the number dropped to 109.

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