Lowest case increase reported since mid-June

The Florida Department of Health reported 1,885 new coronavirus cases, the lowest since June 15, but added 68 new resident fatalities to bring the death toll to 11,187.

An additional 144 nonresidents have died in the state for a combined toll of 11,331.

To date, 623,471 people have been infected statewide, or about one in 34 residents or 2.9% of the nearly 21.5 million population.

The last time Florida reported lower than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases was on June 5.

Monday’s numbers come after a week of continued declines in reported cases and deaths. From Sunday to Sunday, the state saw 21,015 new cases and 794 newly reported deaths.

That’s down from 27,155 cases and 873 deaths the previous week, and deaths have now been less than1,000 two weeks in a row after three weeks straight from late July to mid-August.

August 5 has been the deadliest single day with 183 recorded fatalities, according to the DOH dashboard. The state recorded more than 100 deaths a day between July 7-August 14.

Reported deaths can come as late as one month after the actual date of death because of a lag time in reporting.

COVID-19 hospitalizations have been steadily falling. Across the state, 3,748 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of about 10 a.m. Monday. The state’s online tool updates several times throughout the day.

Orange County reported 176 patients hospitalized, Osceola with 61, Seminole with 59, and Lake with 79.

To date, 38,495 people have been hospitalized in Florida, the state’s COVID-19 dashboard shows.

Over 4.6 million people have been tested in Florida, with 15,984 more tests reported Monday compared with the previous day.

Statewide, the latest positivity rate reported by the Florida Department of Health was 5.52%, 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 8.03%.

Central Florida on Monday added 402 cases for a total of 96,841: 132 new cases in Orange for 35,902; 117 in Polk for 17,011; 43 in Osceola for 11,134; 39 in Volusia for 9,283; 23 in Seminole for 8,029; 33 in Brevard for 7,234; 11 in Lake for 6,396; and four in Sumter for 1,852.

Three of Monday’s newly reported deaths happened in Central Florida: one in Orange County, one in Lake County and one in Polk County.

The region’s toll is now 1,687. Polk County, due to nursinghome outbreaks, has the most coronavirus fatalities in the region with 443, followed by 377 in Orange, 210 in Brevard, 189 in Volusia, 172 in Seminole, 129 in Osceola, 117 in Lake, and 50 in Sumter.

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

South Florida, home to 29% of Florida’s population, accounts for about 43% of cases with 269,996 total. That includes 622 new cases reported Monday among Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

South Florida’s reported deaths on Monday rose by 37 for a total of 4,740, about 42% of the state’s total.

The virus has infected over 25 million people and has killed over 846,000 worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. Nationwide, nearly 6 million people have been infected and over 183,000 are dead.