A 6-year-old girl from Hillsborough County is now the youngest person to die from coronavirus in Florida.
The girl is one of 118 deaths the state added Friday, according to the Florida Department of Health, bringing the total death toll from the virus to 10,304 people.
Eight children have died from COVID-19 across Florida since the pandemic began, including a 9-year-old, two 11-year-olds, two 16-year-olds and two 17-year-olds.
On Friday, Florida added 4,668 more positive cases of the virus. The state has registered 593,286 infections since the first coronavirus patients were identified nearly six months ago. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 increased by 355 admissions.
The Tampa Bay area recorded 683 cases of coronavirus and 17 deaths Friday.
How fast is the number of Florida COVID-19 cases growing?
What is the image statewide?
The number of people in hospitals in Florida with coronavirus has been steadily declining since mid-July, according to data from the Health Care Administration Agency.
As of Friday, about 5,000 people were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of coronavirus. About 750 of those patients were in Tampa Bay.
About 23 percent of hospital beds and 19 percent of beds for intensive care units were available in Florida. In Tampa Bay, about 20 percent of hospital beds and 16 percent of ICU beds were open.
The declining number of people in hospitals in Florida could mean less disease transmission in the community and fewer deaths in the coming weeks.
The weekly average Florida death toll peaked on August 5, with about 185 people declared dead each day. Of the state’s more than 10,000 deaths, nearly 5,000 occurred in just one month. The average death toll as of Friday was 145 people killed per day.
Public health experts say the state of Florida’s coronavirus outbreak has improved since July, but is still in a tenuous place with a long way to go.
Positive cases have fallen over the past month, reaching levels closer to what the state saw in June, before cases began to skyrocket. Testing was also rejected.
CVS Health opened 77 additional drive-through test sites in Florida on Friday, and expects most results to return within two to five days, according to the company.
Florida’s average positivity rate was about 15 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University. The Florida Department of Health uses another method that counts negative retests, but not positive retests, to calculate its positivity scores. According to the health department, the positivity rate for the week is 7 percent.
The World Health Organization recommends a 14-day positivity rate of 5 percent or lower before loosening social distance limits. If the positivity rate is too high, it indicates that tests are probably not widespread tests to catch mild and asymptomatic cases among the population.
Is the Florida coronavirus outbreak still growing?
What’s the picture in Tampa Bay?
Tampa Bay registered 683 cases of coronavirus and 17 deaths Friday.
Seven dead were in Hillsborough, four were in Pinellas, three in Polk, two in Pasco and one in Manatee.
The young girl who died was treated at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, according to a Hillsborough County spokeswoman. The identity of the girls was not made public.
In addition to the 6-year-old girl from Hillsborough, most deaths ranged between 55 and 99 years old. A 38-year-old Polk woman also died.
In Hillsborough County, only three people under the age of 35 died from the virus. Young deaths are less common than in older people, but occur more frequently among those with chronic health problems such as diabetes, obesity or heart problems.
Hillsborough deaths, 1.5 percent, are lower than other counties in the area. Pinellas has a death rate of 3.1 percent, which is higher than most counties in Florida.
The positivity rate in the region remained consistent Friday, with Polk leading with a weekly average of 8 percent. Hillsborough’s weekly positivity rate was 7 percent, while Manatee had 5 percent and Pinellas and Pasco about 4 percent.
As of the last count, Hillsborough had 35,293 deaths and 524 deaths; Pinellas killed 19,247 and killed 593; Polk killed 16,015 and killed 401; Manatee has 10,059 falls and 250 deaths; Pasco has 7,651 deaths and 158 deaths; Hernando had 2,396 deaths and 70 deaths; and Citrus has 1,908 cases and 46 deaths.
Cases of coronavirus in Florida by age group
Doctors say older people are at greater risk for developing severe symptoms of COVID-19, which makes Florida particularly vulnerable.
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