Florida adds 213 coronavirus deaths, 2,500+ cases

Florida added 213 coronavirus deaths Thursday, bringing the total number who have died from the virus statewide up to 12,482 people.

The weekly death average moved up to about 97 people announced dead per day. The death average peaked in early August, with about 185 people announced dead per day. The addition of more than 200 deaths in a day happened on Wednesday and Thursday for the first time in about three weeks and followed a long weekend, when data reported normally dips.

The state also added 2,583 coronavirus cases. Since March, 654,731 positive cases have been found statewide.

The number of cases that led to a hospitalization increased by 294 admissions.

Hospitalizations: About 3,000 people are hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of coronavirus statewide, according to the Agency for Healthcare Administration.

About 520 people are hospitalized in the Tampa Bay area. The number of people seeking treatment locally has stayed about the same for the past week.

Mid-July saw the most people hospitalized, with just under 10,000 patients.

About 25 percent of hospital beds and 22 percent of ICU beds are open statewide. In Tampa Bay, about 22 percent of hospital beds and 17 percent of ICU beds are available. Some of the largest area hospitals, like Tampa General Hospital and Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, have no or few ICU beds open.

Positivity: When positivity is too high, it can show there isn’t enough widespread testing in an area to capture mild and asymptomatic coronavirus cases.

Florida’s average weekly positivity is about 14 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University. The Florida Department of Health, which calculates positivity by counting negative retests but not positive retests, has the average weekly rate at about 5 percent.

The World Health Organization has recommended 5 percent positivity or below as a mark for safer reopening, though public health experts point out there is no guarantee.

Local numbers: Tampa bay added 428 coronavirus cases and 30 deaths Thursday.

Eleven deaths were reported in Hillsborough. Pinellas and Manatee both reported four deaths. Citrus, Hernando and Polk reported three deaths, while Pasco reported two.

Polk and Citrus have the highest average weekly positivity in the region at about 7 percent, followed by Hillsborough at about 6 percent. Hernando has a rate of about 4 percent, and Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas have a rate of about 3 percent.

As of the latest counts, Hillsborough has 38, 917 cases and 584 deaths; Pinellas has 20,655 cases and 700 deaths; Polk has 18,121 cases and 486 deaths; Manatee has 10,772 cases and 272 deaths; Pasco has 8,411 cases and 190 deaths; Hernando has 2,821 cases and 104 deaths; and Citrus has 2,386 cases and 70 deaths.

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