Just 24 hours after setting a one-day record of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, Polk County broke another troubling standard by recording its newest cases as the grand total rose more than 9,500.
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Just 24 hours after setting a one-day record of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, Polk County broke another troubling standard by recording its newest cases.
In the Florida Department of Health’s Sunday notice, Polk was reported with 490 new cases of COVID-19, a one-day high that increased the county’s grand total to 9,524.
Last week was also the highest in the county for new cases, as the first positive test was confirmed on March 17 with 2,277 reported (325.3 per day) by the Health Department. That easily surpassed the previous mark from July 5 to 11, 2,045.
No new deaths were noted in the latest notice from state health officials after a 12-day high was reported Saturday. Polk’s deadliest week during the pandemic ends with 36 fatalities and a total of 174 deaths.
Florida reported 87 deaths associated with COVID-19 on Sunday. That increased the state’s cumulative total to 4,982 for residents and 5,089 in total.
The state also reported 12,478 new cases of coronavirus, marking the fourth highest daily increase, according to the Department of Health. The highest report was produced on July 12, with a record 15,300 cases, breaking state and US records for single-day cases.
In total, 350,047 people have been infected across the state since the pandemic began.
From Sunday to Sunday, the state recorded a total of 80,236 cases, 740 deaths, and 429,477 people examined, all of whom broke records of reported case numbers, deaths, and tests in a single week.
Sunday’s update also set a record for hospitalizations reported in a single week with 2,700 reported by the state. To date, 20,971 Florida residents have been hospitalized, 339 more than a day earlier, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. The state’s overall hospitalization rate is 6%.
Polk added 22 hospitalizations, increasing its total since the pandemic started at 668. The county’s hospitalization rate decreased from 7.2% to 7.0% in Sunday’s report.
Sunday was the 26th consecutive day with at least 5,000 positive cases across the state. In July, Polk reported 5,462 new cases, an average of 303.4 per day, representing a 134.5% increase in cases during the first 18 days of the month.
Just as troubling is the fact that the coronavirus pandemic has found new legs worldwide, as confirmed deaths passed 600,000 on Sunday and countries from the US to South Africa and India are struggling to contain a surge. of new infections.
The World Health Organization said 259,848 new infections were reported Saturday, according to an Associated Press report, its highest one-day record.
Polk’s overall positive test rate continues to rise, jumping from 12.6% to 12.9% in the last report (9,524 cases for 73,606 test results). The county daily rate was 16.7% (490 cases for 2,442 test results) on Sunday. Polk has been in double digits for a positive test rate 26 of the last 29 days. The county has averaged 15.1% as of July 5.
Florida’s positive rate was 11.85% on Sunday. The state’s overall rate increased slightly to 11.64%.
Public health experts say a 10% positivity rate is a critical benchmark denoting a serious spread of the virus. The World Health Organization has recommended a 5% positivity rate before countries start to reopen, according to a report by The Associated Press.
In May, after the state reopened, Florida’s positivity rate was around 5%. Polk’s was below 4%.
More than 14.3 million people worldwide have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 603,000 have died. In the United States, there were 3,736,213 cases reported with 140,255 deaths, Johns Hopkins University reported Sunday afternoon.
