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Florida adds 6,236 new COVID-19 cases in a day

The median age of Floridians testing positive is 43.

Thursday's report from the Florida Department of Health showed the state added another 6,236 cases of COVID-19 on Aug. 12.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases statewide to 557,137 since March.

As of Thursday, the median age of Floridians testing positive for the virus is 43.

The state also reported another 148 Floridians and one non-resident had died after testing positive for coronavirus. That brings the total to 8,913 Floridians and 134 non-residents who have died since the pandemic began.

That does not necessarily mean all those people died on Aug. 12, 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. 

Florida this week recorded the highest number of deaths in a single day's report. The report from Tuesday showed another 277 people in Florida had died after testing positive for the virus.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

As for testing, Thursday's report showed 78,247 test results were returned from labs on Aug. 12. Of those tests, 9.52 percent were positive for COVID-19.

As for hospitalizations, 6,323 people were hospitalized with coronavirus as their primary diagnosis as of 12:16 p.m. Thursday. And, 1,164 of them are in the Tampa Bay area.

A total of 32,537 people in Florida have been hospitalized with COVID-19 at some point during the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the health department said it had received a backlog of testing data from Niznik Lab Corp. in Miami, which dates back to June 23. The state said the lab reported more than 4,000 cases over the last seven weeks.

"This backlog severely skews today's daily report for Miami-Dade & is not reflective of current trends," the FLDOH wrote.

Because of the backlog of data, Wednesday's report of 4,141 new cases in Miami-Dade breaks the county's record for new cases, according to WFOR.

The agency state it and Miami-Dade leaders are investigating what happened.

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
  • August 1: 7,104
  • August 2: 4,752
  • August 3: 5,446
  • August 4: 5,409
  • August 5: 7,650
  • August 6: 7,686
  • August 7: 8,502
  • August 8: 6,229
  • August 9: 4,155
  • August 10: 5,831
  • August 11: 8,109
  • August 12: 6,236
Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

Breaking down the numbers

Florida and California are the only states that have had more than 500,000 cases of coronavirus. California currently has had the most with more than 550,000 cases.

On August 9, the United States passed 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases, the highest recorded number in the world, according to the Associated Press. However, Florida has now gone more than two weeks without a daily total of newly-confirmed coronavirus cases above 10,000.

The highest single-day case number Florida has reported so far is 15,300 for July 11.

The state'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 previous record was 257 from the July 31 report.

Florida reported 3,588 new deaths (Floridians and non-residents) just in July. That is more than 50 percent of the total number of deaths reported by the state.

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. In July, the state reported positivity rates at double and even triple that recommended percentage.

The reports for Aug. 1 and 2, respectively, showed positivity rates below 10 percent for the first time since June 24. So far in August, the state has reported a positivity rate above 10 percent four times (Aug. 3, 4, 6 and 11).

Florida remains in Phase Two of reopening, which began June 5.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

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 12:16 p.m. Thursday, 6,323 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as their primary diagnosis statewide, and 1,164 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 32,537 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 10:15 a.m. on August 13

Citrus:

  • 27 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 41 of 299 total staffed hospital beds are available

DeSoto:

  • 2 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 30 of 55 total staffed hospital beds are available

Hardee:

  • 0 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 5 of 25 total staffed hospital beds are available

Hernando:

  • 49 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 212 of 729 total staffed hospital beds are available

Highlands:

  • 51 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 34 of 251 total staffed hospital beds are available

Hillsborough:

  • 339 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 643 of 3,894 total staffed hospital beds are available

Manatee:

  • 76 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 125 of 760 total staffed hospital beds are available

Pasco:

  • 73 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 264 of 1,392 total staffed hospital beds are available

Pinellas: 

  • 261 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 592 of 2,921 total staffed hospital beds are available

Polk: 

  • 204 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 333 of 1,683 total staffed hospital beds are available

Sarasota: 

  • 79 COVID-19 hospitalizations
  • 229 of 1,183 total staffed hospital beds are available

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