Florida Health Officials Report 202 New Coronavirus Deaths

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida health officials reported 202 new deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the largest one-day increase since Sept. 10.

The number of confirmed cases of the virus in the state climbed to 690,499 as of Wednesday from 687,909 over the previous 24-hour period.

That's an overall increase of 2,590 new cases of the virus over the previous 24-hour period.

The total number of deaths in Florida rose to 13,618 from 13,416 a day earlier. Florida's most recent one-day record of reported deaths was set on Aug. 11. Health officials reported another 163 deaths involving non-Florida residents who died in Florida as of Wednesday.

Wednesday's death total compares to 99 new deaths Tuesday, 21 new deaths Monday, nine new deaths Sunday, 62 new deaths Saturday, 139 new deaths Friday, 147 new deaths Thursday and 152 new deaths last Wednesday.

Florida Department of Health officials have stopped listing the counties that report new deaths. Floridians must now search all 67 counties on the Florida Department of Health's coronavirus dashboard and compare the results to the previous day's data to find the same information.

Florida's numbers compare to 794,301 cases and 15,214 deaths in California; 741,663 cases and 15,229 deaths in Texas as well as 451,892 cases and 33,090 deaths in New York, according to information compiled by Johns Hopkins.

Tuesday was the state's 41st day of daily positivity under 10 percent. The daily positivity rate is calculated by taking the number of people who test PCR-or antigen-positive for the first time divided by all the people tested that day, excluding people who have previously tested positive.

Florida's overall positivity rate, which is cumulative, was at 13.37 percent as of Wednesday based on 5,163,125 total tests.

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Miami-Dade, which includes Miami and Miami Beach, reported 167,880 cases of the virus and 3,127 deaths as of Wednesday. Nearby Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, reported 76,146 cases and 1,343 deaths. Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Beach, West Palm and Boca Raton, reported 45,743 cases and 1,308deaths.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 41,178 cases of the virus and 614 deaths while Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 39,412 cases and 438 deaths.

Sarasota County, which includes the city of Sarasota, reported 7,948 cases of the virus and 251 deaths. Manatee County, which includes Bradenton, reported 11,327 cases and 282 deaths. Pinellas County reported 21,701 cases of the virus and 736 deaths while Pasco County reported 8,988 cases and 205 deaths. Polk County, which includes Lakeland, reported 19,452 cases of the virus and 514 deaths.

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The state reported 42,941 hospitalizations, up from 42,771 hospitalizations a day earlier. That represents an increase of 170 new hospitalizations over the previous day.

State health officials also reported a total of 2,254 current hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is down from 2,329 current hospitalizations a day earlier.