4,599 new Florida coronavirus cases reported Wednesday; 55 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 4,599 Wednesday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 1,989,024.

The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 32,504, an increase of 55 since Tuesday's update. In addition, a total of 616 non-Floridians have died in the state.

Locally, Pasco County is reporting five new deaths, Hernando County is reporting four, Pinellas County is reporting two and Hillsborough County is reporting one new death.

Of the 1,989,024 cases, 1,952,321 are Florida residents while 36,703 are non-Florida residents in the state.

Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:

Hillsborough: 116,691
Pinellas: 69,468
Sarasota: 28,175
Manatee: 33,536
Sumter: 8,422
Polk: 59,264
Citrus: 10,081
Hernando: 11,902
Pasco: 34,961
Highlands: 7,464
DeSoto: 3,956
Hardee: 2,862

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, the number of Floridians currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 was 3,007, with the state reporting a total of 82,786 hospitalized for treatment at some point.

Vaccination efforts continue across the state. Tuesday, 49,349 more people received their first vaccine dose in Florida. Meanwhile, 31,567 more people received their second and final dose, meaning 2,375,690 have completed both rounds or received the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

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. It began to increase again in the winter but has again started to drop.

The rate of positive new tests declined from its summertime peak, remaining below 10% for several months, but it reached that point again during the holiday season and into 2021 before dipping again. It was at 5.57% 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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