Florida Surpasses 13,000 Deaths, 5 Million Tests

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The number of confirmed coronavirus deaths in Florida surpassed the 13,000 mark Thursday as state health officials reported that more than five million tests for the virus have been performed in Florida since the start of the pandemic.

Health officials reported 147 new deaths Thursday along with another 3,255 additional cases of the virus.

The total number of deaths in Florida rose to 13,086, up from 12,939 a day earlier. Florida's most recent one-day record of reported deaths was set on Aug. 11. Health officials reported another 161 deaths involving non-Florida residents who died in Florida.

Thursday's death total compares to 152 new deaths Wednesday, 145 new coronavirus deaths Tuesday, 34 new deaths Monday, eight new deaths Sunday, 98 new deaths Saturday, 176 new deaths Friday and 211 new deaths last Thursday.

The total number of positive cases of the coronavirus in Florida climbed to 674,456, up from 671,201 a day earlier.

Florida Department of Health officials this week stopped including the number of new deaths in the daily report for news organizations along with 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 773,788 cases and 14,779 deaths in California; 700,422 cases and 14,808 deaths in Texas as well as 447,262 cases and 33,070 deaths in New York, according to information compiled by Johns Hopkins.

Florida health officials reported the state's 36th 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 13.4 percent as of Thursday based on 5,018,057 total tests.

See related:

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• Miami-Dade And Broward To Move Into Phase 2 Of Reopening
• Most Florida Bars Cleared To Reopen
• Lakeland High Suspends 2 Football Games Due to Coronavirus Case

Miami-Dade, which includes Miami and Miami Beach, reported 165,595 cases of the virus and 2,977 deaths as of Thursday. Nearby Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, reported 75,048 cases and 1,311 deaths. Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Beach, West Palm and Boca Raton, reported 44,683 cases and 1,254 deaths.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 40,126 cases of the virus and 601 deaths while Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 38,422 cases and 426 deaths.

Sarasota County, which includes the city of Sarasota, reported 7,752 cases of the virus and 245 deaths. Manatee County, which includes Bradenton, reported 11,041 cases and 277 deaths. Pinellas County reported 21,254 cases of the virus and 715 deaths while Pasco County reported 8,680 cases and 197 deaths. Polk County, which includes Lakeland, reported 18,783 cases of the virus and 503 deaths.

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The state reported 42,047 hospitalizations, up from 41,851 hospitalizations a day earlier. That represents an increase of 196 new hospitalizations over the previous day.

State health officials also reported a total of 2,383 current hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, down from 2,480 current hospitalizations a day earlier.