Half Of Florida's Counties Report New Coronavirus Deaths

TALLAHASSEE, FL — More than half of Florida's counties reported a total of 156 new coronavirus deaths Wednesday as state health officials also reported 2,673 more cases of the virus.

Wednesday marked Florida's 14th straight day of positivity under 10 percent while officials reported a new statewide positive case total of 608,722, up from 605,502 cases a day earlier.

Health officials said 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.

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The total number of deaths in Florida rose to 10,733 on Wednesday, up from 10,580 a day earlier. Florida's most recent one-day record of 276 reported deaths was set on Aug. 11. Health officials reported another 139 deaths involving non-Florida residents who died in Florida.

Florida's overall positivity rate was at 13.53 percent Tuesday based on 4,499,640 total tests.

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Thirty-eight of Florida's 67 counties reported the 156 new deaths (health officials reported 153) Wednesday. That compares with 72 new deaths Monday, 52 new deaths on Sunday (health officials reported 51), 106 new deaths Saturday, 122 new deaths on Friday (health officials reported 119), 118 new deaths Thursday (health officials reported 117), and 174 new deaths last Wednesday.

Here's a breakdown of the counties reporting new deaths:

• Miami-Dade County reported 40 new deaths.
• Broward County reported 13 new deaths.
• Palm Beach County reported 12 new deaths.
• Marion County reported 11 new deaths.
• St. Lucie County reported six new deaths.
• Brevard County reported five new deaths.
• Pinellas County reported five new deaths.
• Seminole County reported five new deaths.
• Collier County reported four new deaths.
• Indian River County reported four new deaths.
• Polk County reported four new deaths.
• Sarasota County reported four new deaths.
• Citrus County reported three new deaths.
• Duval County reported three new deaths.
• Hillsborough County reported three new deaths.
• Lafayette County reported three new deaths.
• Lee County reported three new deaths.
• Volusia County reported three new deaths.
• Bay County reported two new deaths.
• Hernando County reported two new deaths.
• Lake County reported two new deaths.
• Madison County reported two new deaths.
• Manatee County reported two new deaths.
• Escambia County reported one new death.
• Gadsden County reported one new death.
• Gulf County reported one new death.
• Jefferson County reported one new death.
• Martin County reported one new death.
• Monroe County reported one new death.
• Okaloosa County reported one new death.
• Okeechobee County reported one new death.
• Orange County reported one new death.
• Osceola County reported one new death.
• Putnam County reported one new death.
• St. Johns County reported one new death.
• Sumter County reported one new death.
• Washington counties County reported one new death.
• Wakulla County reported one new death.

The state reported 37,404 hospitalizations up from 37,038 hospitalizations a day earlier. That represents an increase of 366 new hospitalizations over the previous day.

State health officials also reported a total of 4,398 current hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, a decline from 4,543 current hospitalizations a day earlier.

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.

Miami-Dade, which includes Miami and Miami Beach, reported 154,135 cases of the virus as of Wednesday. Nearby Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, reported 69,883 cases. Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Beach, West Palm and Boca Raton, reported 41,013 cases.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 36,157 cases. Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 35,083 cases.

Patch updates this chart once each day based on data provided by the Florida Department of Health. The counties that reported new deaths Tuesday are shown in bold.

Here is the most recent data available: