Florida reports 2,811 coronavirus cases

74 more residents have died

The Florida Department of Health posted 2,811 new coronavirus cases and 74 new virus fatalities on Saturday.

To date, 714,615 people have been infected statewide, and 14,628 Florida residents have died. With 175 non-resident deaths, the combined toll is 14,803.

Each report includes deaths from several previous days, as it can take two weeks or more for fatalities to be logged.

The Florida Department of Health hasn’t reported a daily increase above 10,000 infections since July 25. But testing has declined statewide, to a daily average of about 22,800 in September. That’s down from about 32,000 daily tests on average in August and 54,400 a day in July.

Over 5.3 million people have been tested in Florida, with 25,132 more tests reported Saturday compared with the previous day.

Statewide, the latest positivity rate reported by the Florida Department of Health was 4.79%, but that’s for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive. For all cases including retests of those previously infected, the latest positivity rate is 5.98%.

Central Florida on Saturday added 669 cases for a total of 113,626: 186 new cases in Orange for 40,845; 136 in Polk for 20,353; 37 in Osceola for 12,727; 45 in Volusia for 11,076; 114 in Brevard for 9,335; 84 in Seminole for 9,201; 45 in Lake for 7,651; and 22 in Sumter for 2,438.

Central Florida had 12 of Saturday’s newly reported deaths, bringing the region’s toll to 2,221. Polk County, due to nursinghome outbreaks, has the most coronavirus fatalities in the region with 531, followed by 479 in Orange, 303 in Brevard, 259 in Volusia, 225 in Seminole, 193 in Lake, 158 in Osceola, and 73 in Sumter.

Central Florida accounts for nearly16% of the cases statewide and 15% of the deaths.

COVID-19 hospitalizations have been steadily falling frommid-July highs of over 8,000. Across the state, 2,039 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of about 12 p.m. Saturday.

The state’s online tool updates several times throughout the day.

After two months of steady decline, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Central Florida have leveled off, but as the state enters its third phase of reopening, experts are concerned the public could let its guard down and help the rapid spread of the virus once again.

Orange County reported 116 patients hospitalized, Osceola with 68, Seminole with 29, and Lake with 38 as of about12 p.m. Saturday.

To date, 44,623 people have been hospitalized in Florida, the state’s COVID-19 dashboard shows. But those numbers could include cases that are weeks old.

South Florida, home to 29% of Florida’s population, accounts for about 42% of cases with 296,608 total.

That includes 753 new cases reported Saturday among Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

South Florida’s reported deaths rose by 18 Saturday for a total of 6,136, about 42% of the state’s total.

The virus has infected over 34 million people and has killed over 1 million worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University& Medicine Corona virus Resource Center.

Nationwide, over 7.3 million people have been infected and over 208,000 are dead.