State reports 6,271 new cases; death total jumps again

Florida reported 6,271 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and increased its total death count by 1,213, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The batch of new death reports, which were spread out over the past few weeks, kept the 7-day trend stubbornly high at 328. Deaths are counted on the day they occur, not the day they are reported, and can take up to two weeks or more to be reflected in the data.

At least 53,105 Floridians have now died of COVID-related causes through

Wednesday.

The 7-day trend of new cases dropped to 9,516, the lowest it’s been since July 20 and only the second time since then that it has dipped below 10,000.

On Wednesday, the number of people hospitalized for COVID in Florida was 7,845, a 19.8% decline over the past week, according to data from the Florida Hospital Association. It’s the first time that hospitalizations dropped below 8,000 in Florida since July 27.

Here are the latest statistics:

The CDC updated its county-by county COVID numbers, which it has released weekly. South Florida

counties have among the lowest cases per capita in the state, this week’s data shows. The statistics are for the week of Sept. 13-19.

Florida dropped in the rankings of cases per capita, from 20th over the weekend to 25th as of Tuesday, according to New York Times data. The data shows 42 COVID cases per 100,000 in Florida. The state continues to rank first in the nation for deaths with 2.07 deaths per 100,000 population; Alabama is second with 1.55 deaths per capita.

On Sept. 16, Florida reported a decline in its positivity rate, though it remains one of the highest in the nation.Thepositivityratein

Florida declined from 13.5% to11.2%,afurtherindication the state may have passed thepeakofthedeltasurge.

The state releases positivity dataweekly.