17,783 new Florida coronavirus cases reported Wednesday; 129 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 17,783 Wednesday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 1,409,906.

The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 22,317, an increase of 129 since Tuesday's update. In addition, a total of 330 non-Floridians have died in the state.

Locally, Pinellas County reported 20 new deaths, Hillsborough reported nine, Polk reported five, Pasco reported four, Hernando reported three, Highlands reported two, while Citrus and Manatee each reported one.

Of the 1,409,906 cases, 1,385,040 are Florida residents while 24,866 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.

Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:

Hillsborough: 82,257
Pinellas: 48,273
Sarasota: 20,190
Manatee: 23,690
Sumter: 5,634
Polk: 40,361
Citrus: 7,138
Hernando: 7,928
Pasco: 23,606
Highlands: 5,253
DeSoto: 3,027
Hardee: 2,196

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 Wednesday, 7,303 Floridians were currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, with a state total of 64,321 having been hospitalized for treatment at some point.

Vaccination efforts continue across the state. Tuesday, 25,635 more patients received their first vaccine dose in Florida, for a total of 323,143. Meanwhile, 3,920 more people received their second and final dose meaning 5,917 have completed both rounds.

Source: Florida 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 20,987 new cases reported on December 31 was the largest single-day increase of the entire pandemic.

The rate of positive new tests has declined from its summertime peak, remaining below 10% for several months, but it reached that point again during the holiday season. It was at 12.59% on Tuesday, the most recent date available.

After peaking in July, the number of deaths also began a downward trend in August that continued until November -- 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 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

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