Florida's Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 12,000 Mark

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida's death toll from the coronavirus surpassed the 12,000 mark on Wednesday as state health officials reported 200 new deaths from the virus.

Health officials also reported 2,056 new confirmed cases of the virus on Wednesday.

Thirty-seven of Florida's 67 counties reported new deaths Wednesday. Those counties are Bay, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Miami-Dade, Desoto, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Gadsden, Hendry, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Leon, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee and Volusia.

The daily total compares to 44 new deaths Tuesday, 22 new deaths Monday, 38 new deaths Sunday, 61 new deaths Saturday, 100 new deaths Friday, 151 new deaths Thursday (state health officials reported 149), 128 new deaths Wednesday (health officials reported 127) and 187 new deaths last Tuesday.

The total number of positive cases of the coronavirus in Florida rose to 652,148 on Wednesday, up from 650,092 a day earlier.

Florida's numbers compare to 745,226 cases and 13,850 deaths in California; 662,575 cases and 13,792 deaths in Texas as well as 440,578 cases and 33,016 deaths in New York, according to information compiled by Johns Hopkins.

Florida health officials reported the state's 28th day of daily positivity under 10 percent. The daily positivity rate is calculated by taking the number of people who test PCR-or antigen-positive for the first time divided by all the people tested that day, excluding people who have previously tested positive.

Florida's overall positivity rate, which is cumulative, was at 13.5 percent as of Wednesday based on 4,838,264 total tests.

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Miami-Dade, which includes Miami and Miami Beach, reported 162,433 cases of the virus and 2,740 deaths as of Wednesday. Nearby Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, reported 73,696 cases and 1,244 deaths. Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Beach, West Palm and Boca Raton, reported 43,422 cases and 1,178 deaths.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 38,790 cases of the virus and 568 deaths while Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 37,366 cases and 568 deaths.

Sarasota County, which includes the city of Sarasota, reported 7,486 cases of the virus and 221 deaths. Manatee County, which includes Bradenton, reported 10,729 cases and 266 deaths. Pinellas County reported 20,588 cases of the virus and 693 deaths while Pasco County reported 8,381 cases and 187 deaths. Polk County, which includes Lakeland, reported 18,025 cases of the virus and 480 deaths.

The total number of deaths in Florida rose to 12,115 on Wednesday, up from 11,915 a day earlier. Florida's most recent one-day record of 276 reported deaths was set on Aug. 11. Health officials reported another 154 deaths involving non-Florida residents who died in Florida.

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The state reported 40,517 hospitalizations, up from 40,195 hospitalizations a day earlier. That represents an increase of 322 new hospitalizations over the previous day.

State health officials also reported a total of 3,076 current hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, down from 3,156 current hospitalizations a day earlier.

Patch's County-By-County Coronavirus Data

In an effort to provide as much information to our readers as possible, Patch has been publishing a daily county-by-county breakdown of the coronavirus cases in Florida's 67 counties, along with the median age of patients, the number of hospital cases by county and the number of deaths.

Based on the declining daily positivity rates in Florida, Patch has decided the time has come to suspend publication of the county-by-county chart.

We will continue to bring you daily updates on the coronavirus pandemic in Florida as well as county-specific information for the counties in our coverage area.