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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida yet again hits a grim milestone on Friday, adding 8,942 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, the 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 122,960.
The health department reported 212 new hospitalizations and 39 new deaths on Friday morning. There have been 3,366 total deaths in Florida residents and 13,987 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 Thursday was 13.05%.
The total percent positive of all tests – including people who have been tested on multiple days – was 14.74% on Thursday. The state says 60,905 negative test results were received while 10,528 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 71,433 test results received on Thursday. 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 Thursday was 34. 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 Thursday shows Floridians in the 25 – 34 age range account for the largest percentage of cases. A total of 23,495 people in that age group have tested positive – 19% of the state’s total. Of those cases, 825 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: 8,018
Deaths: 132
Hospitalizations: 597
PINELLAS COUNTY
Total Cases: 5,099
Deaths: 141
Hospitalizations: 610
SARASOTA COUNTY
Total Cases: 1,245
Deaths: 96
Hospitalizations: 193
MANATEE COUNTY
Total Cases: 2,202
Deaths: 128
Hospitalizations: 254
PASCO COUNTY
Total Cases: 1,326
Deaths: 17
Hospitalizations: 116
POLK COUNTY
Total Cases: 2,780
Deaths: 87
Hospitalizations: 445
HERNANDO COUNTY
Total Cases: 260
Deaths: 5
Hospitalizations: 32
HIGHLANDS COUNTY
Total Cases: 284
Deaths: 11
Hospitalizations: 56
CITRUS COUNTY
Total Cases: 240
Deaths: 12
Hospitalizations: 35
HARDEE COUNTY
Total Cases: 373
Deaths: 3
Hospitalizations: 35
For more information on coronavirus in Florida, visit the live DOH Dashboard here.
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