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Health officials warn of coming COVID spike
Without doubling down on our efforts to wear face coverings and social distance, experts predict by early February cases in the four-county Tampa Bay region could peak at 18,000 daily new COVID-19 infections.
TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health says the number of known cases of COVID-19 in the state rose by 13,000 Friday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 1,181,483.
The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 20,401, an increase of 96 since Thursday's update. In addition, a total of 289 non-Floridians have died in the state.
Locally, Sarasota County reported 11 new deaths, Hillsborough and Polk each reported six, Pinellas reported five, Hernando reported four, DeSoto and Highlands each reported two, while Manatee and Pasco each reported one.
Of the 1,181,483 cases, 1,161,953 are Florida residents while 19,530 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.
Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:
- Hillsborough: 68,739
- Pinellas: 39,846
- Sarasota: 16,537
- Manatee: 19,879
- Sumter: 4,313
- Polk: 32,809
- Citrus: 5,877
- Hernando: 6,374
- Pasco: 19,017
- Highlands: 4,494
- DeSoto: 2,707
- Hardee: 1,948
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 Friday, 5,182 Floridians were currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19; in total, 59,602 have been hospitalized for treatment at some point.
LINK: County-by-county Florida coronavirus cases and ZIP code map
Source: Fla. Department of Health
The number of new cases had generally been trending down in the fall, mirroring the number of tests being given. But it has begun to increase again. The 13,148 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 8.75% on Thursday, 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: Fla. Department 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
CORONAVIRUS IN FLORIDA: What you need to know
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