Florida sets another single-day record; 3,200 new coronavirus cases reported Thursday
TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health says the number of known cases of COVID-19 in the state rose by 3,207 since yesterday morning as the virus spreads and as more people are tested across the state. The total number of cases in Florida is now 85,926.
The number of deaths has reached 3,061, an increase of 43 since Wednesday's update. Locally, Manatee County reported five new deaths, Pinellas reported two, while Hillsborough and Polk each reported one.
Of the 85,926 cases, 83,854 are Florida residents while 2,072 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.
Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:
Hillsborough: 4,610
Pinellas: 2,887
Sarasota: 833
Manatee: 1,548
Sumter: 270
Polk: 1,702
Citrus: 162
Hernando: 151
Pasco: 627
Highlands: 200
DeSoto: 412
Hardee: 228
The state is not reporting a total number of "recovered" coronavirus patients or those currently hospitalized. As of Thursday, 12,577 people had been hospitalized for treatment at some point.
A total of 1,512,315 people have been tested in the state as of Thursday -- about 7% of the state's population -- according to the Florida Department of Health.
LINK: County-by-county Florida coronavirus cases and ZIP code map
Florida resident cases in orange; Florida resident deaths in gray. Source: Fla. Dept. of Health.
Thursday's total new cases represented the largest single-day increase in new cases since the beginning of the pandemic, eclipsing Tuesday's record. It was also the 16th day in a row with new cases near or over 1,000 per day. Experts say that is partly due to more tests being given, but also a result of reopening the state.
The rate of positive tests has increased during that time period.
Gov. Ron DeSantis says the recent case increases are largely due to testing of "high-risk" individuals like farmworkers in the state's rural counties, prisoners, and residents of long-term care facilities, though he separately noted that long-term-care cases were flat.
Prior to this spike, the state had averaged just over 700 new cases per day in the last 30 days. That was a level that the health care system could handle, according to Gov. DeSantis. And while the number of new cases has trended up over the last few weeks, the number of deaths has appeared to trend down, though delays in data reporting make interpreting trends from that statistic less reliable.
Source: Fla. Dept. of Health
As Florida continues taking steps to ease restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, health experts say new cases and more deaths are expected.
RELATED: DeSantis says spike in virus cases will not slow economy
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. 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. The number of non-Florida residents who have died from the coronavirus while in the state is not reported.
If you feel sick:
The Florida Department of Health has 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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Map of known COVID-19 cases:
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