Today, the Florida Department of Health reported 133 new COVID-19- related deaths in a single day, bringing the statewide total to 4,514.
This breaks the state's previous record for reported deaths, which was set last week with 120. Though not all deaths occurred in the last 24 hours and often take weeks to be reported, these numbers show 132 residents deaths and one nonresident death.
On Tuesday, Florida also added 9,194 new coronavirus infections, which brings the total number to 291,629 cases. Florida also added 383 new hospitalizations, bringing the total to 18,881. As of now, the state currently has about 17% availability for ICU beds.
Locally, Hillsborough County leads Tampa Bay with 680 new positive cases, a positive test percentage of just over 16%, and a total of 20,508 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Pinellas County added 312, and is now at 11,754 cases.
Officials say roughly 2.7 million tests have been conducted so far. Yesterday, DeSantis boasted about the state’s declining positivity rate, after it was shown to have dropped down to 11% from a previous high of 18% last Wednesday. However, with today’s numbers, positive tests have spiked again to 15%.
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This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2020.