TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida has reported over 5,000 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with Wednesday marking a grim milestone with 5,508 new cases. On Thursday, the state confirmed 5,004 cases of the novel coronavirus, making it the second-highest number of cases reported in a single day.
The total number of cases Florida has reported since the beginning of the pandemic is now 114,018.
The health department reported 201 new hospitalizations and 46 new deaths on Thursday morning. There have been 3,327 total deaths in Florida residents and 13,775 Floridians have been hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic.
The percent positivity for new cases — the number of people who tested positive for the first time divided by all the people tested that day — on Wednesday was 8.72%.
The total percent positive of all tests – including people who have been tested on multiple days – was 10.02% on Wednesday. The state says 53,270 negative test results were received while 5,932 people tested positive.
“Now they are testing more than they were, for sure, but they’re also testing positive at a higher rate than they were before,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. “So that would tell you, there’s probably been an escalation in transmission over the last seven to 10 days.”
According to the state report, there were 59,2020 test results received on Wednesday. The rate of testing has stayed relatively consistent the past two weeks aside from one or two days that saw a higher number of results.
8 On Your Side has heard from many Floridians who say they are having trouble getting tested as the demand for testing increases along with the number of cases.
The number of cases reported per day steadily increased last week before dipping on Sunday. The daily number of cases started climbing again on Monday. There was a slight dip on Wednesday.
The state also started releasing the median age of cases by day in its daily report this week. The median age on Tuesday was 34, slightly higher than Tuesday’s median age of 33. Tampa Bay area counties have reported an upward trend in young adults testing positive for the virus.
According to DeSantis, a similar trend is being seen in counties throughout the state.
“What we’ve seen, particularly over the last week, is a real explosion in new cases among our younger demographics,” he said. “When we started this in March, the median age of people who tested positive was – I think – 65. As the testing ramped up, that went into the 50s. But it was pretty much in the 50s for most of the time and then just recently has really plunged.”
The state report released Wednesday shows Floridians in the 25 – 34 age range account for the largest percentage of cases. A total of 21,350 people in that age group have tested positive – 19% of the state’s total. Of those cases, 816 people have been hospitalized and 19 have died.
“The folks in that age group, unless they have a really serious underlying condition, do not suffer the same types of clinical consequences,” DeSantis said.
Here is the county-by-county breakdown across Tampa Bay as of Wednesday (number of hospitalizations is cumulative):
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
Total Cases: 7,329
Deaths: 127
Hospitalizations: 592
PINELLAS COUNTY
Total Cases: 4,669
Deaths: 137
Hospitalizations: 589
SARASOTA COUNTY
Total Cases: 1,139
Deaths: 96
Hospitalizations: 192
MANATEE COUNTY
Total Cases: 2,202
Deaths: 128
Hospitalizations: 253
PASCO COUNTY
Total Cases: 1,170
Deaths: 17
Hospitalizations: 112
POLK COUNTY
Total Cases: 2,571
Deaths: 84
Hospitalizations: 436
HERNANDO COUNTY
Total Cases: 227
Deaths: 5
Hospitalizations: 32
HIGHLANDS COUNTY
Total Cases: 279
Deaths: 10
Hospitalizations: 56
CITRUS COUNTY
Total Cases: 226
Deaths: 12
Hospitalizations: 35
HARDEE COUNTY
Total Cases: 329
Deaths: 2
Hospitalizations: 35
For more information on coronavirus in Florida, visit the live DOH Dashboard here.
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