PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A 9-year-old girl is now the youngest Floridian to die from coronavirus complications.
The girl, who is the fifth child in the state to die during the pandemic, tested positive for COVID-19 on July 18 and has since passed away.
The Florida Department of Health confirmed she lived in Putnam County and hadn't recently traveled. Her name has not been released.
The Florida Education Association is currently suing to stop the state's emergency order to reopen schools for in-person learning five days a week beginning in August.
Florida added a record 173 new deaths to its daily coronavirus report published Thursday, bringing the total number of Floridians who have died since the pandemic began to 5,518.
As for hospitalizations, 9,615 people in Florida were hospitalized with COVID-19 as their primary diagnosis as of 10 a.m. Thursday. In the Tampa Bay area, 1,938 were in the hospital. A total of 22,644 people with coronavirus have been hospitalized in Florida at some point since March.
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