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Florida adds 229 coronavirus deaths, more than 6,000 cases

The total number of cases in the state has risen to 563,285.
 
For use with daily coronavirus numbers.
For use with daily coronavirus numbers. [ Times ]
Published Aug. 14, 2020|Updated Aug. 14, 2020

Florida logged another 229 coronavirus deaths Friday, bringing the weekly average number of deaths up to 175 people announced dead per day.

In more than five months, 9,276 people in Florida have died from the coronavirus, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Another 6,148 new infections were recorded Friday, bringing the total number of positive cases to 563,285 across the state. The health department reported about 89,000 additional processed tests. Cases that resulted in a hospitalization increased by 621 admissions.

The Tampa Bay added 778 new cases and 57 deaths Friday.

How fast is the number of Florida COVID-19 cases growing?

What’s the picture statewide?

The number of people in Florida hospitals with coronavirus has been declining over the past several weeks. As of Friday, 6,200 people were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of coronavirus, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration. About 1,000 of those are in the Tampa Bay area.

The drop in hospitalizations mean that deaths, which generally lag behind hospitalizations and positive test results, may also start seeing a decline.

Florida reached a record high for its average deaths per day over a seven-day period on Aug. 5. If that turns out to be Florida’s death peak, it means the state will still see more deaths before before noting a drop to earlier levels.

About 23 percent of hospital beds and 19 percent of intensive care unit beds are available statewide as of Friday. In Tampa Bay, about 20 percent of hospital beds and 15 percent of ICU beds are available.

The positivity rate in Florida is 18 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University. When the positivity rate, or the percentage of positive results among all tests processed, is too high, it can indicate testing isn’t widespread enough to capture asymptomatic cases.

Florida’s testing has remained irregular. Some days the health department has reported more than 100,000 tests processed, while other days have had fewer than 60,000.

Part of that may be tied to the closure of state-run testing facilities ahead of Hurricane Isaias. Some of the facilities that closed were in South Florida, which have been the hardest-hit by the pandemic.

Is Florida’s coronavirus outbreak still growing?

What’s the picture in Tampa Bay?

Tampa Bay added 778 cases and 57 deaths Friday, with 31 of those deaths reported in Hillsborough County alone.

Polk County added 11 deaths, Pinellas added five, Pasco added four, and Manatee and Hernando both added added three.

The deaths ranged in age from 55- to 100-years-old. There was also a 49-year-old Hillsborough woman and a 34-year-old Pasco man who died.

Pinellas has the highest death rate in the area at 3 percent. Hillsborough’s is about half that.

Pinellas has a lower positivity rate, with a weekly average of 5 percent compared with Hillsborough’s 7 percent. Polk leads the region with a 10 percent positivity rate, and Manatee and Pasco both have a 6 percent positivity.

As of the latest counts, Hillsborough has 33,697 cases and 463 deaths; Pinellas has 18,469 cases and 543 deaths; Polk has 15,107 cases and 355 deaths; Manatee has 9,661 cases and 247 deaths; Pasco has 7,348 cases and 146 deaths; Hernando has 2,161 cases and 57 deaths; and Citrus has 1,708 cases and 38 deaths.

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Florida coronavirus cases by age group

Doctors say older people are at a greater risk to developing severe symptoms from COVID-19, which makes Florida especially vulnerable.

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