Officials also reported 9,956 new infections, bringing Florida’s total number of COVID-19 cases of 461,379. Florida has now logged a total of 6,586 COVID-19 deaths, which means the state is now averaging 154 deaths per day.
According to John Hopkins University, the positivity rate is now 19 percent in Florida.
Florida also added 518 new hospitalizations. Since March, 26,017 people have been hospitalized in Florida, according to the Department of Health. Currently, roughly 1,500 people are hospitalized in Tampa Bay, which has about 18 percent of hospital beds available and just 10 percent of ICU beds available.
Florida is now a major epicenter for coronavirus. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Florida and Texas now make up nine out of ten coronavirus hot spots in the U.S.According to John Hopkins University, the positivity rate is now 19 percent in Florida.
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There have been 212 deaths in Orange County, 109 in Volusia, 108 in Brevard, 72 in Seminole and 64 in Osceola.
On Thursday, Orange County added 400 new cases, for a total of 28,591. Polk added 222 new cases, for a total of 12,281, and Osceola added 151 for a total of 8,281. Volusia added 135 for a total of 6,707, and Seminole added 86, for a total of 6,419.
Over the past week, which has been the most deadly since the start of the pandemic with 872 reported deaths, DeSantis has emphatically downplayed the crisis, arguing that the recent records are actually good.
“I think when you see those reports, those are probably reflective of infections and hospitalizations that have happened in the past,” the Governor said. “So it’s more of a lagging indicator, where as I think the ED (emergency department) visits and some of the hospital visits are more of a leading indicator in terms of where things are trending.”
This story originally appeared in our sister paper Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
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