TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For the seventh day in a row, Florida's daily reported number of new COVID-19 cases was under 4,000.
Saturday's report from the Department of Health showed the state added 3,197 new coronavirus cases for Aug. 28. That brings the total to 619,003 cases statewide since March.
The median age of Floridians testing positive for the virus is 43.
The state's daily report showed 4.97 percent of 72,577 test results returned from labs on Aug. 28 were positive for COVID-19.
The health department also reported another 148 Floridians and two non-residents had died after testing positive for coronavirus. That brings the total to 11,105 Floridians and 144 non-residents who have died since the pandemic began.
Those numbers do not necessarily mean those people died Friday but rather the state learned of their deaths and added the numbers 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.
However, the state recently 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.
When it comes to hospitalizations, 3,855 people were hospitalized with coronavirus as their primary diagnosis as of 10:45 a.m. Saturday. Of those, 644 patients were in the Tampa Bay area.
A total of 38,314 people in Florida have been hospitalized with coronavirus 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
- 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
- August 13: 6,148
- August 14: 6,352
- August 15: 3,779
- August 16: 2,678
- August 17: 3,838
- August 18: 4,115
- August 19: 4,555
- August 20: 4,684
- August 21: 4,311
- August 22: 2,974
- August 23: 2,258
- August 24: 2,673
- August 25: 3,220
- August 26: 3,269
- August 27: 3,815
- August 28: 3,197
Breaking down the numbers
Florida on Aug. 22 became the second state to cross the 600,000 reported COVID-19 cases mark. As of Aug. 29, California has had more than 697,000 cases. Texas has about 619,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
On Aug. 9, the United States passed 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases, the highest recorded number in the world, according to the Associated Press. As of Aug. 29, the nation had nearly 6 million.
The highest single-day case number Florida has reported so far is 15,300 for July 11. However, Florida has not reported a single-day new case number at or higher than 10,000 since late July.
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.
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.
Until Aug. 21, Florida had 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 five times (Aug. 3, 4, 6, 10 and 11).
The positivity rate reported for Aug. 21 (4.89 percent) is the lowest Florida has seen since mid-June.
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 10:45 a.m. Saturday, 3,855 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as their primary diagnosis statewide, and 644 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 38,314 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 10:45 a.m. on Aug. 29
Citrus:
- 27 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 86 of 301 total staffed hospital beds are available
DeSoto:
- 4 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 32 of 55 total staffed hospital beds are available
Hardee:
- 0 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 1 of 25 total staffed hospital beds are available
Hernando:
- 28 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 274 of 742 total staffed hospital beds are available
Highlands:
- 24 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 82 of 260 total staffed hospital beds are available
Hillsborough:
- 196 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 723 of 3,742 total staffed hospital beds are available
Manatee:
- 24 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 154 of 737 total staffed hospital beds are available
Pasco:
- 49 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 351 of 1,388 total staffed hospital beds are available
Pinellas:
- 131 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 903 of 3,057 total staffed hospital beds are available
Polk:
- 117 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 358 of 1,591 total staffed hospital beds are available
Sarasota:
- 44 COVID-19 hospitalizations
- 214 of 1,179 total staffed hospital beds are available
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