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Florida's daily percent positive stays under 5% for a week, state adds 3,204 COVID-19 cases

The health department also reported another 140 people in the state had died after testing positive for coronavirus.

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Friday's report from the Florida Department of Health showed an increase of 3,204 COVID-19 cases for Sept. 17.

That brings the total to 677,660 coronavirus cases statewide since March.

The health department also reported another 139 Floridians and one non-resident had died after testing positive for COVID-19. That brings the total to 13,225 Floridians and 162 non-residents who have died since the pandemic began.

Those numbers do not necessarily mean those people died Wednesday 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.

The report from Wednesday showed the state passed the mark for more than 13,000 total deaths from coronavirus in Florida.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

When it comes to testing, 4.18 percent of 84,098 test results returned from labs were positive for coronavirus through Sept. 17. The median age of Floridians testing positive for the virus is 37.

Florida has now reported a week of daily percent positive rates being below 5 percent.

As for hospitalizations, 2,383 people were hospitalized with coronavirus as their primary diagnosis as of 10:45 a.m. Friday. Of those, 499 patients were in the Tampa Bay area.

A total of 42,234 people in Florida have been hospitalized with COVID-19 at some point during the pandemic.

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

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

Breaking down the numbers

For the month of August, daily reported COVID-19 cases in Florida remained under 10,000. And, for more than a week, daily new cases were under 4,000.

That changed with the report for Aug. 31. A backlog of nearly 75,000 test results from Quest Diagnostics was added to that day's report, which resulted in 7,569 new cases reported. Failure to report those test results earlier, most of which were more than two weeks old, with some dating all the way back to April, caused the Department of Health to sever all ties with Quest, according to the state.

Florida on Aug. 22 became the second state to cross the 600,000 reported COVID-19 cases mark. As of Sept. 18, California has had more than 775,000 cases. Texas has more than 701,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.

On Aug. 31, the United States passed 6 million coronavirus cases, the highest recorded number in the world, according to the Associated Press. That's a little more than three weeks after the country surpassed 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Aug. 9.

The highest single-day case number Florida has reported so far is 15,300 for July 11. The lowest single-day case number the state has reported since mid-June is 1,736 confirmed on Sept. 14.

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 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.

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, and the percent positives have ranged from a high of near 7 percent and a low of under 5 percent recently. Health officials say they would like to see a high -- but steady -- number of people tested every day and a suppressed percent positivity figure.

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. In August, the state reported a positivity rate above 10 percent five times.

The positivity rate reported for Sept. 13 (3.91 percent) is the lowest Florida has seen since mid-June.

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 10:45 a.m. Friday, 2,383 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as their primary diagnosis statewide, and 499 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 42,234 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 Sept. 18

Citrus:

24 COVID-19 hospitalizations
81 of 314 total staffed hospital beds are available

DeSoto:

1 COVID-19 hospitalization
45 of 55 total staffed hospital beds are available

Hardee:

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

Hernando:

13 COVID-19 hospitalizations
256 of 740 total staffed hospital beds are available

Highlands:

25 COVID-19 hospitalizations
46 of 258 total staffed hospital beds are available

Hillsborough:

147 COVID-19 hospitalizations
489 of 3,768 total staffed hospital beds are available

Manatee:

12 COVID-19 hospitalizations
137 of 801 total staffed hospital beds are available

Pasco:

30 COVID-19 hospitalizations
270 of 1,384 total staffed hospital beds are available

Pinellas:

101 COVID-19 hospitalizations
880 of 3,131 total staffed hospital beds are available

Polk:

115 COVID-19 hospitalizations
317 of 1,627 total staffed hospital beds are available

Sarasota:

32 COVID-19 hospitalizations
254 of 1,238 total staffed hospital beds are available