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Coronavirus in Florida: State reports 6,490 new COVID-19 cases and 96 deaths

A total of 2,071,015 people in Florida have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida added 6,490 coronavirus cases for April 1, according to the Florida Department of Health's latest report.

A total of 2,071,015 people in the state have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

On Friday, the state reported another 92 Floridians and four non-residents had died after testing positive for COVID-19. That brings the total to 33,586 residents and 653 non-residents who have died since the pandemic began – a total of 34,239 deaths in the state related to the virus.

Those numbers do not necessarily mean those people died Thursday, but rather the state learned of their deaths and added the number to the report that day. The state's line-by-line report, which you can read here, lists coronavirus deaths by the date the people tested positive for the virus, not the date they passed.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

As for testing, the health department reported 6.1 percent of 124,548 test results returned from labs were positive for coronavirus through April 1. 

The median age of Floridians testing positive is 35.

As for hospitalizations, 2,869 people in Florida were hospitalized with coronavirus as their primary diagnosis as of Friday morningOf those, 748 patients were in the Tampa Bay area.

Statewide, a total of 85,538 people in Florida were hospitalized with the virus at some point during the pandemic.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

Here's a breakdown of new coronavirus cases reported to the state since March began:

  • March 1: 7,179
  • March 2: 6,014 
  • March 3: 6,118 
  • March 4: 5,975 
  • March 5: 4,690 
  • March 6: 4,098 
  • March 7: 3,312
  • March 8: 4,426 
  • March 9: 4,853 
  • March 10: 5,065 
  • March 11: 5,214
  • March 12: 5,244
  • March 13: 3,699
  • March 14: 2,826
  • March 15: 4,791
  • March 16: 4,599
  • March 17: 5,093
  • March 18: 5,140
  • March 19: 5,105
  • March 20: 3,987
  • March 21: 2,862
  • March 22: 5,302
  • March 23: 5,143
  • March 24: 5,773
  • March 25: 5,750
  • March 26: 5,883 
  • March 27: 4,973
  • March 28: 3,374
  • March 29: 5,062
  • March 30: 5,294
  • March 31: 6,790 
  • April 1: 6,490

RELATED: Florida coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, deaths, vaccinations and recoveries

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

Understanding the numbers

Since mid-July, daily reported COVID-19 cases in Florida remained under 10,000. And, between Sept. 1 and Oct. 16, daily reported cases stayed below 4,000.

That changed on Nov. 15, when the state reported 10,105 new cases for the day prior.

The highest single-day case number Florida has reported so far is 19,816 for Jan. 6. The report released on Jan. 2 of 31,518 newly-reported cases is higher, but that report combined updates for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

The lowest single-day case number the state has reported since early June is 738, confirmed on Sept. 28.

On Oct. 30, Florida became the third state to cross the 800,000 reported COVID-19 cases mark. Then, on Dec. 1, Florida became the third state to surpass 1 million confirmed cases. On March 20, Florida became the third state to surpass 2 million confirmed cases. The United States has more than 30.5 million coronavirus cases as of April 1, the highest recorded number in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

California and Texas have 3.6 and 2.7 million cases, respectively.

Florida's report released on Aug. 11 of 277 newly confirmed deaths was the highest seen from the state in a single day's report.

The state added a section to its daily report (on page 5) that shows deaths by date of death. This data has been reported daily on Florida's COVID-19 dashboard. The graph for deaths by date of death is subject to change, though, because the information reported to the state can be delayed up to two weeks. So, for consistency, our charts have stuck to new deaths added by the date they were added. For transparency, you can always reference the state's data here.

The positivity rate is crucial for reopening. The World Health Organization has repeatedly said it must remain at 5 percent or lower for a 14-day span for the agency to recommend reopening.

However, it can be somewhat misleading: The number of people tested statewide varies each day. Health officials say they would like to see a high – but steady – number of people tested every day and a suppressed percent positivity figure.

Florida has been in "Phase 3" of reopening since Sept. 25, when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an order guaranteeing restaurants the right to operate and lifting state-level capacity restrictions on them.

Hospitalizations and ICU bed availability

New cases have slowly been on the rise, but what about hospitalizations?

Tracking hospitalizations got easier on July 10 when the Agency for Health Care Administration began publishing a spreadsheet with the number of people currently checked-in for coronavirus-related complications in Florida. The data only includes people whose "primary diagnosis" was COVID-19.

As of April 2, 2,869 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as their primary diagnosis statewide, and 748 of them were in the Tampa Bay area. Those numbers are frequently updated, and you can click here for the most recent data, which is also broken down by county.

Since the pandemic began, the state confirms a total of 85,538 residents were hospitalized at some point during their illness.

The Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) also updates total hospital bed and ICU availability by county.

Click here for a breakdown of adult and pediatric ICU bed availability by county. You can also check ICU availability by the hospital.

Hospitalizations around Tampa Bay and total staffed hospital bed capacity status:

**Data as 3:30 p.m. April 2, 2021

Citrus:

  • 20 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 64 of 304 total staffed hospital beds are available

DeSoto:

  • 4 COVID-19 hospitalization
  • 34 of 56 total staffed hospital beds are available

Hardee:

  • 0 COVID-19 hospitalization
  • 1 of 25 total staffed hospital beds are available

Hernando:

  • 26 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 220 of 757 total staffed hospital beds are available

Highlands:

  • 32 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 32 of 263 total staffed hospital beds are available

Hillsborough:

  • 233 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 785 of 4,060 total staffed hospital beds are available

Manatee:

  • 26 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 103 of 813 total staffed hospital beds are available

Pasco:

  • 85 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 221 of 1,460 total staffed hospital beds are available

Pinellas: 

  • 174 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 756 of 3,191 total staffed hospital beds are available

Polk: 

  • 103 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 304 of 1,733 total staffed hospital beds are available

Sarasota: 

  • 45 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 164 of 1,346 total staffed hospital beds are available

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