Nearly 1,700 new Florida coronavirus cases reported Thursday; largest single-day increase
TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health says the number of known cases of COVID-19 in the state rose by 1,698 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 69,069.
The number of deaths has reached 2,848, an increase of 47 since Wednesday's update. Locally, Hillsborough, Manatee, Polk, and DeSoto counties each noted two new deaths, whiel Pinellas and Sumter each reported one.
Of the 69,069 cases, 67,456 are Florida residents while 1,613 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.
Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:
Hillsborough: 3,174
Pinellas: 1,862
Sarasota: 716
Manatee: 1,253
Sumter: 265
Polk: 1,325
Citrus: 132
Hernando: 130
Pasco: 473
Highlands: 160
DeSoto: 304
Hardee: 164
The state is not reporting a total number of "recovered" coronavirus patients or those currently hospitalized. As of Thursday, 11,571 people had been hospitalized for treatment at some point.
A total of 1,307,728 people have been tested in the state as of Thursday -- about 6% 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 represents the largest single-day increase in new cases since the beginning of the pandemic and the ninth 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 also increased slightly during that time period.
RELATED: Florida sees another day of 1,000+ new COVID-19 cases; what's behind the numbers?
Prior to this spike, the state had averaged just over 700 new cases per day in the last 30 days. That’s a level that the health care system can handle, according to Gov. Ron 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.
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
AROUND THE WORLD: CoronavirusNOW.com
Map of known COVID-19 cases:
MOBILE APP USERS: Click here for map