9,816 new Florida coronavirus cases reported Tuesday; 162 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 9,816 Tuesday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 1,589,097.

The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 24,436, an increase of 162 since Monday's update. In addition, a total of 384 non-Floridians have died in the state.

Locally, Pinellas County reported 18 new deaths, Pasco reported 13, Hernando reported 10, Citrus reported seven, and Polk reported four.

Of the 1,589,097 cases, 1,560,015 are Florida residents while 29,082 are non-Florida residents in the state.

Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:

Hillsborough: 93,487
Pinellas: 54,924
Sarasota: 22,895
Manatee: 26,267
Sumter: 6,485
Polk: 46,137
Citrus: 7,981
Hernando: 9,073
Pasco: 27,190
Highlands: 5,933
DeSoto: 3,232
Hardee: 2,417

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 Tuesday, 7,363 Floridians were currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, with a state total of 68,478 having been hospitalized for treatment at some point.

Vaccination efforts continue across the state. Monday, 5,290 more patients received their first vaccine dose in Florida, for a total of 965,756. Meanwhile, 5,290 more people received their second and final dose, meaning 100,351 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 19,473 new cases reported last Thursday 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 and into 2021. It was at 8.97% on Monday, 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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