Florida coronavirus: Total number of cases in state surpasses 400K, record increase in hospitalizations reported

TAMPA (WFLA) — Florida reported 12,444 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the latest report from the state health department’s shows.

Statewide, 402,312 people have been infected and 5,653 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic. Data shows an additional 581 people were hospitalized and there were 135 new deaths.

Friday’s report shows the largest single-day increase in hospitalizations since the outbreak began. The highest increase before was 517.

As of Friday, there are 9,225 people currently hospitalized throughout Florida with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. A total of 23,225 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 106,280 test results from labs across the state Thursday, 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, 16.65% were positive. The state says there were 88,588 negative results and 17,692 positives.

The percent positivity for new cases is 13.31%. 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 79,123 confirmed cases in that age group, which is 20% of the state’s total. Of those cases, 1,430 have been hospitalized and 39 have died.

The median age of new cases released Friday is 42.