TAMPA, Fla. — Saturday's report from the Florida Department of Health showed the state added another 9,642 COVID-19 cases for July 31.
That brings the total number of coronavirus cases reported statewide to 480,028 since March. The median age of Floridians testing positive is 42 as of Friday morning.
The health department also reported another 179 Floridians had died after testing positive for the virus, bringing the total to 7,022 Floridians and 122 non-residents who have died from the virus since the pandemic began.
On Friday, 257 was the highest number of deaths from coronavirus reported by the state in a single day's report.
That does not necessarily mean all those people died on July 31, but rather the state learned of their deaths and added the numbers to the report that day. The state's daily 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.
In Saturday's report, the state also removed one death from the non-resident total, bringing the new total to 122 non-residents who have died from coronavirus.
In contrast, our chart below shows deaths by the date on which they were added to Florida's report.
Florida has reported 3,588 new deaths (Floridians and non-residents) just in July. That's more than 50 percent of the total number of deaths reported by the state.
When it comes to testing, Friday's report showed 100,568 test results were turned in from labs on July 31. Of those tests, 11.08 percent were positive for the virus.
When it comes to hospitalizations, 7,935 people were hospitalized with coronavirus as their primary diagnosis as of 11 a.m. Saturday. And, 1,511 of them are in the Tampa Bay area.
A total of 26,972 people in Florida have been hospitalized at some point during the pandemic.
Here's a breakdown of the new coronavirus cases reported to the state:
- June 21: 2,926
- June 22: 3,286
- June 23: 5,508
- June 24: 5,004
- June 25: 8,942
- June 26: 9,585
- June 27: 8,530
- June 28: 5,266
- June 29: 6,093
- June 30: 6,563
- July 1: 10,109
- July 2: 9,488
- July 3: 11,458
- July 4: 10,059
- July 5: 6,336
- July 6: 7,347
- July 7: 9,989
- July 8: 8,935
- July 9: 11,433
- July 10: 10,360
- July 11: 15,300
- July 12: 12,624
- July 13: 9,194
- July 14: 10,181
- July 15: 13,965
- July 16: 11,466
- July 17: 10,328
- July 18: 12,478
- July 19: 10,347
- July 20: 9,440
- July 21: 9,785
- July 22: 10,249
- July 23: 12,444
- July 24: 12,199
- July 25: 9,344
- July 26: 8,892
- July 27: 9,230
- July 28: 9,446
- July 29: 9,956
- July 30: 8,989
- July 31: 9,643
Breaking down the numbers
There has yet to be a day in July where the number of newly-confirmed cases was fewer than 6,000. In fact, the last time that happened was on June 28.
The highest single-day case number Florida has reported so far is 15,300 for July 11.
The World Health Organization and infectious disease experts around the globe have recommended a positivity rate of 5 percent or lower for a 14-day span in order to be comfortable reopening.
Florida has not seen a positivity rate at 5 percent since the beginning of June. For more than a month, the state has reported positivity rates at double and even triple that recommended percentage.
Florida remains in Phase Two of reopening, which began June 5.
Hospitalizations and ICU bed availability
Cases are climbing, 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 10:30 a.m. Saturday, 7,935 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as their primary diagnosis statewide, and 1,511 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 26,972 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 of 11 a.m. on August 1
Citrus:
- 22 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 84 of 284 total staffed hospital beds are available
DeSoto:
- 3 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 25 of 55 total staffed hospital beds are available
Hardee:
- 0 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 4 of 25 total staffed hospital beds are available
Hernando:
- 59 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 248 of 719 total staffed hospital beds are available
Highlands:
- 53 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 47 of 261 total staffed hospital beds are available
Hillsborough:
- 437 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 613 of 3,740 total staffed hospital beds are available
Manatee:
- 108 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 136 of 771 total staffed hospital beds are available
Pasco:
- 88 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 354 of 1,381 total staffed hospital beds are available
Pinellas:
- 339 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 665 of 2,906 total staffed hospital beds are available
Polk:
- 286 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 392 of 1,648 total staffed hospital beds are available
Sarasota:
- 116 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 201 of 1,184 total staffed hospital beds are available