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Florida adds 6,820 coronavirus cases Sunday, 22 deaths

The weekly case average and weekly death average both increased in Florida as the global coronavirus tally surpassed 50 million.
 
Since March 1, the day the first coronavirus cases were reported in the state, Florida has reported a total  843,897 infections and 17,333 deaths due to the virus.
Since March 1, the day the first coronavirus cases were reported in the state, Florida has reported a total 843,897 infections and 17,333 deaths due to the virus. [ Times ]
Published Nov. 8, 2020

The Florida Department of Health reported 6,820 coronavirus infections on Sunday and 22 deaths, bringing the state’s overall death toll throughout the pandemic to 17,333 lives lost.

Since March 1, the day health officials recorded the first known coronavirus infection in Florida, the state has reported a total of 843,897 cases.

Per capita, Florida’s death rate is the 11th highest in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By Sunday, the state was averaging 48.9 new deaths each day, records show. According to the state’s data, roughly one in every 25 people in Florida has tested positive for the virus.

By Sunday morning, the coronavirus had infected more than 50 million people worldwide, leading to more than 1.1 million deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, roughly 9,957,000 people in the United States have tested positive for the virus, and at least 237,500 have died.

Nationwide, new confirmed cases have climbed to an all-time high of over 86,000 per day on average.

Hospitalizations

By Sunday morning, 2,732 people across Florida were in the hospital with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, the respiratory infection caused by the coronavirus, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration — an increase of 64 patients in the last 24 hours.

Roughly 22 percent of those patients were in Tampa Bay area hospitals, which reported 597 coronavirus patients. Local hospitalizations rose by about a quarter in the past month, records show. Florida’s hospitals have treated 51,093 coronavirus patients in all since the start of the pandemic.

About 25 percent of adult beds in Florida intensive care units and 26 percent of 60,000 regular hospital beds were available for new patients Monday. Florida’s pediatric intensive care units reported 397 active coronavirus patients Sunday, leaving 265 beds available for new admissions.

In the Tampa Bay area, about 26 percent of hospital beds and 22 percent of adult ICU beds were available Sunday. Pediatric units have seen a slight increase in admissions since last week, reporting only 25 of 88 patient ICU beds available.

Adult ICU units in Hillsborough County were 86 percent full by Sunday morning, with only 51 of 382 beds empty. Tampa General Hospital reported only one empty bed in its adult ICU unit, and in Pinellas County, Morton Plant Hospital’s adult ICU listed only two. AdventHealth’s adult ICU units were at full capacity in both the Tampa and North Pinellas locations.

Positivity

Florida’s average weekly positivity rate is about 7.7 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University, which recently changed its metric to align more closely with the Florida Department of Health’s measure.

On Saturday, that figure rose above 8 percent for the first time since mid-August.

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Overall, though, the state’s positivity rate has steadily declined since hitting 20 percent during Florida’s mid-July spike. Still, Florida is one of 35 states above the World Health Organization’s recommended positivity rate of 5 percent or below. A high positivity rate can indicate there’s not enough testing in a given area to capture mild and asymptomatic cases.

Statewide, more than 6.8 million people have been tested for the coronavirus — about one-third of Florida’s entire population.. On Sunday, state health officials reported the results of 116,966 coronavirus tests.

Local Numbers

The Tampa Bay area added 1,259 coronavirus cases Saturday and 7 deaths — one in Pasco County and 6 in Hillsborough.

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 50,790 cases and 847 deaths; Pinellas has 27,675 cases and 835 deaths; Polk has 24,129 cases and 640 deaths; Manatee has 14,114 cases and 336 deaths; Pasco has 11,788 cases and 251 deaths; Hernando has 4,022 cases and 179 deaths; and Citrus has 3,584 cases 143 deaths.

Health experts have questioned the integrity of Florida’s death reporting, noting that some doctors have logged COVID-19 deaths as late as three months after a patient died. The Florida Department of Health says it plans to launch a review of all deaths attributed to the virus thus far.

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

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Is Florida’s coronavirus outbreak still growing?

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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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Tampa Bay Times coronavirus coverage

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