On Friday, the Florida Department of Health reported 257 new COVID-19 deaths in Florida, marking the fourth consecutive day the state has surpassed its own daily death record.
The state’s total amount of lives lost to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic in March now nears 7,000, with 6,843 Florida resident deaths and 123 non-resident deaths. July alone saw 3,409 COVID-19 related deaths recorded—nearly 50% of the state's total COVID-19 deaths.
The health department added another 8,989 new cases in Florida on July 30. The number of cases in Florida since the beginning of the pandemic in March now totals 470,386.
While the state’s fatality toll continues to rise daily, the numbers presented each day do not necessarily mean each death occurred on that day; the numbers come from when the state was made aware of those deaths and accounted for them. Florida’s line-by-line coronavirus death report lists the date people tested positive, not the day of their death.
As of Friday morning, Florida saw 8,236 hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of coronavirus. Of these, 1,550 occurred in the Tampa Bay area, with Hillsborough County seeing 445, Pinellas County seing 351 and Polk County seeing 283 hospitalizations.
Florida’s weekly average positivity rate is now 19.42%, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University. The World Health Organization, along with disease experts, recommend a 5% positivity rate or lower for 14 days in order for a state to consider reopening.
Meanwhile, Florida has been in its second phase of reopening since early June as Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to encourage further expanding and reopening of businesses while vouching for in-person schooling this fall.
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This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 6, 2020.