7,925 new Florida coronavirus cases reported Wednesday; 87 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 7,925 Wednesday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 905,248.

The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 17,731, an increase of 87 since Tuesday's update. In addition, a total of 218 non-Floridians have died in the state.

Locally, Hillsborough County reported 11 new deaths, Sarasota reported six; Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Polk each reported three, while Citrus, Hernando, Highlands, and Sumter each reported one.

Of the 905,248 cases, 892,352 are Florida residents while 12,896 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.

Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:

Hillsborough: 53,900
Pinellas: 29,737
Sarasota: 11,620
Manatee: 15,147
Sumter: 3,212
Polk: 25,696
Citrus: 4,086
Hernando: 4,366
Pasco: 12,968
Highlands: 3,325
DeSoto: 1,882
Hardee: 1,708

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, 3,352 Floridians were currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19; in total, 52,637 have been hospitalized for treatment at some point.

A total of 7,801,516 residents have been tested in the state as of Wednesday -- 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: Fla. Department of Health

The number of new cases had generally been trending down in September, mirroring the number of tests being given. But it has begun to increase again. The 10,105 new cases reported Sunday was the highest since July 25.

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 8.16% on Tuesday, 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

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