Coronavirus updates
State reports 2,847 new cases with a 4.29% positivity rate
Nearly 14,000 Florida residents have died in total; state reports 2,847 new cases.
Florida added 2,847 coronavirus cases Friday to push the statewide total to 695,887 infected. With 120 new virus fatalities reported statewide, 13,915 Florida residents are now dead.
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 23,600 so far in September. That’s down from about 32,000 daily tests on average in August and 54,400 a day in July.
Over 5.2 million people have been tested in Florida, with 26,496 more tests reported Friday compared with the previous day.
Statewide, the latest positivity rate reported by the Florida Department of Health was 4.29%, 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 5.39%.
Central Florida on Friday added 528 cases for a total of 109,760: 157 new cases in Orange for 39,717; 96 in Polk for 19,647; 66 in Osceola for 12,354; 49 in Volusia for 10,738; 37 in Seminole’s count for 8,946; 92 in Brevard for 8,728; 26 in Lake for 7,420; and 5 in Sumter for 2,210.
Central Florida had 18 of Friday’s newly reported deaths, bringing the region’s toll to 2,106. Polk County, due to nursing-home outbreaks, has the most coronavirus fatalities in the region with 526, followed by 444 in Orange, 291 in Brevard, 239 in Volusia, 207 in Seminole, 188 in Lake, 145 in Osceola, and 66 in Sumter.
Central Florida accounts for nearly 16% of the cases statewide and 15% of the deaths. But infections have plateaued in Orange County at a level that the state’s top health official here called manageable and a sign that locals are “learning to live” with the virus.
COVID -19 hospitalizations have been steadily falling from mid-July highs of over 8,000. Across the state, 2,134 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of about 11 a.m. Friday. The state’s online tool updates several times throughout the day.
Orange County reported 123 patients hospitalized, Osceola with 62, Seminole with 29, and Lake with 30 as of about about 11 a.m. Friday.
To date, 43,299 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 291,318 total. That includes 851 new cases reported Friday among Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
South Florida’s reported deaths rose by 52 Friday for a total of 5,903, about 42% of the state’s total.
The virus has infected over 32 million people and has killed over 983,000 worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. Nationwide, over 6.9 million people have been infected and over 202,000 are dead.