For the fourth consecutive day, Florida recorded more than 100 new coronavirus deaths, adding 130 on Friday.
Since March, 4,912 people in Florida have died from the virus, according to the Florida Department of Health. On Friday, the state added 11,466 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 327,241.
The seven-day average death rate continued to rise from 96 deaths per day to 101. About 14 percent of all coronavirus deaths in the state were recorded in the past seven days.
Hospitalizations increased by 372 admissions on Friday, making it 20,526 admissions to the hospital due to the coronavirus.
The positivity rate for new cases on Friday was about 12 percent, according to the health department.
What is the image across the state?
Florida’s tests have been mostly patchy, with some days processing more than 100,000 tests and others registering less than 50,000. More than 100,000 tests were reported Friday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed dismay at the delay in the test results, saying Florida would now send tests to the labs with a history of quickly turning them around.
In an attempt to remedy some of the long wait times, state-supported coronavirus test sites opened swab lanes for symptomatic people on Friday morning. Patients will get their results in 72 hours, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Coronavirus data released daily by the health department does not necessarily record cases that have arisen in the past 24 hours. Some recorded cases can last for several days, as laboratories report large batches of tests to the state.
Although the tests have been irregular, the positivity has remained stable. Florida’s weekly average of positive tests is about 18 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the impact of the virus globally. It is the second highest of any state in the United States behind Arizona.
“What it means to me is that we probably still need more testing, and that’s a bit challenging right now,” said Cindy Prins, professor of epidemiology at the University of Florida.
Prins said the state will not have the virus under control until they see cases begin to stabilize. As cases continue to rise, he said deaths and hospitalizations are also likely to increase.
His biggest concern is the delay in test results. Prins said people may be waiting for results, and in the meantime they are unknowingly positive and spreading the virus.
“Even at this level of cases, if these people are perhaps unaware that they are infected or are potentially not taking the proper precautions, then you will see those cases continue,” he said.
What is the picture in Tampa Bay?
The Tampa Bay area recorded 2,045 new infections on Friday, with almost half of them outside Hillsborough County. It also added nine additional deaths.
Five deaths were reported in Pinellas, three in Polk and one in Hillsborough. Thursday was a record day for coronavirus deaths in the state at 156. Hillsborough County added 40 deaths Thursday, the highest number any county in the Tampa Bay area has recorded in a day.
The new deaths on Friday were: a 95-year-old woman in Hillsborough County; a 48, 77 and 79 year old man and a 58 and 93 year old woman in Pinellas County; and 68- and 92-year-old women and an 84-year-old man in Polk County.
According to the latest counts, Hillsborough has 22,502 cases and 236 deaths; Pinellas has 12,714 cases and 302 deaths; Polk has 8,772 cases and 163 deaths; The manatee has 6,133 cases and 145 deaths; Pasco has 4,654 cases and 41 deaths; Hernando has 1,077 cases and 14 deaths; and Citrus has 737 cases and 17 deaths.
What about hospitals?
In the Tampa Bay area, hospitals are beginning to see an increase in patients.
Statewide, about 16 percent of ICU beds were open as of Friday, and in Tampa Bay about 11 percent, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration.
According to the agency, more than 9,000 people are currently in the hospital with a primary diagnosis of coronavirus. Most of those patients are in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
There are currently just over 1,600 patients in the Tampa Bay area.
Hundreds of nurses have been brought in to help Tampa Bay hospitals manage the increase in COVID-19 patients. In March and April, about 15 percent of patients had the virus each day, now about 70 percent or more have it, said Dr. Jason Wilson, an emergency room physician at Tampa General Hospital, the largest hospital in the area.
A higher percentage of younger patients are also becoming more seriously ill, he said, with about 40 percent of coronavirus patients at Tampa General Hospital being 55 or younger. As of Friday morning, Tampa General had only five of the 95 ICU beds available, according to ACHA.
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