State tops 600K cases but infections fall

Florida trending down as 2,974 added to total

Florida broke the 600,000 mark for confirmed coronavirus cases Sunday, but reported one of its lowest daily totals in two months, continuing a downward trend that began five weeks ago.

Florida reported 2,974 new cases on Sunday, only the second time since June 22 that fewer than 3,000 new cases have been tallied in a day. The other time was Monday, when 2,678 cases were reported. Sundays and Mondays often have a low number of reports as not all hospitals report on the weekend. The daily total peaked July 15 when more than 15,000 cases were reported, but has been declining since.

Central Florida on Sunday added 414 new cases for a total of 92,990. There were 124 new cases in Orange for a total of 34,662; 93 in Polk for 16,251; 51 in Osceola for 10,732; 47 in Volusia for 8,914; 21 in Seminole for 7,756; 23 in Brevard for 6,912; 42 in Lake for 6,046; and 13 in Sumter for 1,717.

Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have also been declining. Late Sunday morning, 4,578 patients were being treated for the disease in Florida hospitals compared to Saturday’s 4,773. It is a drop of almost 800 since Thursday. Hospitalizations peaked at above 9,500 on July 23. The state’s positivity rate on tests over the past week has been just over 10%.

On Sunday, Orange County reported 242 patients hospitalized, Osceola had 93, Seminole had 68, and Lake had 63 as of about 11 a.m.

Overall, the state has now reported 600,571 confirmed cases. The state reported 51 deaths Sunday, bringing the total to 10,462. Over the past week, the state has reported an average death rate of 125 per day and an average of 151 deaths per day during August. Only Texas, at 203 deaths, has a higher daily average over the past week. It has about 50% more residents. Deaths from COVID-19 usually occur two weeks or more after diagnosis, so epidemiologists have said Florida’s fatality rate should shrink in the coming weeks if confirmed infections continue to shrink.

Central Florida had one of Sunday’s newly reported deaths, bringing the region’s toll to 1,565. Polk, due to nursing-home outbreaks, has the most coronavirus fatalities in Central Florida with 404, followed by 361 in Orange, 195 in Brevard, 177 in Volusia, 162 in Seminole, 127 in Osceola, 93 in Lake, and 46 in Sumter.

Central Florida accounts for about 15% of the cases statewide and also about 15% of the deaths. The region’s share of the state’s deaths has ticked up compared with June and the start of July, when it had steadily remained at under 9% of Florida’s total.

However, after nearly two months of declining infection rates, a health official this week said Orange County is finally seeing the death rate also begin to drop. On Wednesday, Orange County saw its lowest single-day positivity rate since mid-July — 5.2%. That rate, for Saturday’s cases, was 4.24% on Sunday.