10,870 new Florida coronavirus cases reported Thursday; 98 new deaths

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TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health says the number of known cases of COVID-19 in the state rose by 10,870 Thursday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 1,029,030.

The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 18,874, an increase of 98 since Wednesday's update. In addition, a total of 237 non-Floridians have died in the state.

Locally, Hillsborough County reported nine new cases, Pasco reported five, Hernando and Pinellas each reported four, Citrus reported two, while Polk reported one.

Of the 1,029,030 cases, 1,012,456 are Florida residents while 16,574 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.

Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:

Hillsborough: 59,809
Pinellas: 33,857
Sarasota: 14,257
Manatee: 17,324
Sumter: 3,602
Polk: 28,399
Citrus: 4,945
Hernando: 5,170
Pasco: 15,480
Highlands: 3,893
DeSoto: 2,450
Hardee: 1,791

Florida new resident cases in orange; new resident deaths in gray. Note: Deaths usually appear to be trending down because of the delay in confirming the last few days of data. Source: Fla. Dept. of Health.

The state is not reporting a total number of "recovered" coronavirus patients. As of Thursday, 4,291 Floridians were currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19; in total, 55,820 have been hospitalized for treatment at some point.

A total of 9,272,978 residents have been tested in the state as of Thursday -- just over a third of the state's population -- according to the Florida Department of Health.

LINK: County-by-county Florida coronavirus cases and ZIP code map

Source: Florida Dept. of Health

The number of new cases had generally been trending down in in the fall, mirroring the number of tests being given. But it has begun to increase again. The 10,870 new cases reported Thursday was the highest single-day increase since July.

The rate of positive new tests has declined from its summertime peak, remaining below 10% for several months, but it has also begun to increase again. It was at 8.19% on Wednesday, the most recent date available.

After peaking in July, the number of deaths also began a downward trend in August that continued through October -- though "significant delays" in data reporting, as the state says, make interpreting short-term trends from that statistic less reliable.

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Source: Florida Dept. of Health

PDF: DOH's full county-by-county COVID-19 case report

Editor's note: The number of new cases and deaths reported each day does not necessarily reflect the day that the case was confirmed. The state says some private testing labs dump large batches of test results which include cases from previous days, and data can take days or weeks to validate. Stats for today and previous days will likely change in the future as the state reviews more cases and updates retroactive data.

The state's number of deaths represents permanent Florida residents who have died from COVID-19.

MAP: Florida coronavirus cases by county

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If you feel sick:

The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions around the clock. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.

LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website

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