Florida coronavirus: State adds 9,785 new cases, 139 deaths

TAMPA (WFLA) — Florida reported 9,785 new coronavirus cases and 139 new deaths on Wednesday, the latest report from the state health department’s shows.

Statewide, 379,619 people have been infected and 5,345 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic.

Data shows an additional 463 people were hospitalized following a record day of hospitalizations.

Wednesday’s report shows the second-largest increase in deaths and the third-largest increase in hospitalizations since the outbreak began. The state had reported 517 new admissions on Tuesday.

As of noon Wednesday, there are 9,497 people currently hospitalized throughout Florida with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. A total of 22,243 have been hospitalized throughout the state since the beginning of the pandemic.

Health officials in Manatee County told 8 On Your Side their hospitals were hitting capacity and staffing was a “dire situation.” Last week, a 15-bed unit from the Florida Division of Emergency Management arrived at Winter Haven Hospital to provide additional hospital capacity. It’s the first mobile hospital unit in the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis previously announced 2,000 additional contracted nurses would be spread throughout the state to respond to the virus outbreak.

The health department received 102,190 test results from labs across the state Tuesday, 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.

Of the test results received Tuesday, 13.51% were positive. The state says there were 88,381 negative results and 13,809 positives.

The percent positivity for new cases is 10.55%. 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 75,245 confirmed cases in that age group, which is 20% of the state’s total. Of those cases, 1,377 have been hospitalized and 35 have died.