Florida adds 4,452 coronavirus cases, 87 deaths

Florida added 4,452 coronavirus deaths Saturday, bringing the weekly case average just below 5,000 cases announced per day.

Since March, 837,077 cases of the virus have been identified across Florida. The weekly case average is about where it was in mid-August, with 4,933 cases announced per day. That’s higher than it was for much of September and October.

The state also announced 87 deaths, bringing the weekly death average up to about 49 people announced dead per day.

Across Florida, 17,311 people have died from the virus.

Hospitalizations: About 2,560 people across Florida are in the hospital with a primary diagnosis of coronavirus, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration, a number that has gone up in recent weeks. About 560 people are hospitalized in Tampa Bay.

Local hospital admissions rose by about a quarter in the past month.

About 26 percent of hospital beds and 25 percent of ICU beds are available across Florida. In Tampa Bay, about 25 percent of hospital beds and 29 percent of ICU beds are available.

Positivity: Florida’s average weekly positivity rate is about 7 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University, which recently changed its metric to align more closely with the Florida Department of Health’s measure.

It is one of 35 states that does not meet the World Health Organization recommendation for a 5 percent positivity rate or below. When positivity is too high, it can indicate that there isn’t enough widespread testing to capture mild and asymptomatic cases.

Local numbers: The Tampa Bay area added 757 coronavirus cases Saturday and 19 deaths.

Six were in Hillsborough, four were in Pasco, four were in Manatee and three were in Citrus. Hernando and Polk had one each.

Citrus leads the area with the highest average weekly positivity rate at 9 percent. Pasco follows at 8 percent, then Hillsborough and Pinellas at 7 percent and Hernando, Manatee and Polk at 6 percent.

As of the latest counts, Hillsborough has 50,380 cases and 841 deaths; Pinellas has 27,372 cases and 835 deaths; Polk has 23,966 cases and 640 deaths; Manatee has 13,989 cases and 336 deaths; Pasco has 11,671 cases and 250 deaths; Hernando has 3,972 cases and 179 deaths; and Citrus has 3,492 cases 143 deaths.

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