Florida coronavirus: State reports record deaths, hospitalizations as toll surpasses 6,000

TAMPA (WFLA) — More than 441,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Florida, and more than 6,000 people have died, according to the latest report from the health department’s website.

Data shows Florida reported an additional 9,230 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 441,977.

The state saw a record increase in deaths and hospitalizations. The death toll rose by 186 to 6,117, the highest single-day death count. Data shows 24,917 Floridians have been hospitalized at some point during the pandemic. That’s up 585 from Monday morning, the highest daily number.

Over the weekend, Florida surpassed New York to become the state with the second-highest caseload in the country. Earlier this month, the state saw a record-number of new cases—15,299—in a single day.

The health department has received 3,485,141 test results from labs across the state, including from people who have been tested more than once. This includes people who tested positive and were tested again later to check if they were still infected. The state says 441,977of tests were positive and 3,038,322 were negative.

Of the test results received Monday, 15.51% were positive. The state said there were 13,989 positive results and 76,231 negative test results.

The percent positivity for new cases was 11.69% on Monday. Percent positivity for new cases is the number of people who test PCR (nose swabs) or antigen-positive for the first time divided by all the people tested that day. That does not include people who already tested positive once and have been re-tested to see if they’re still infected.

Floridians in the 25 to 34 age group account for the largest percentage of cases throughout the state. There are 86,188 cases in that age group, which is 20% of the state’s total. Of those cases, 1,520 have been hospitalized and 42 have died.