With 257 coronavirus deaths, Florida breaks record for 4th day in a row

For the fourth consecutive day, Florida surpassed its daily coronavirus death record with 257 deaths, the third time the number has exceeded 200, according to the state.

In the last eight days, 1,498 people in Florida have died from the coronavirus.

The total number of deaths statewide, including three new deaths in Volusia County, is now 6,843.

On Thursday, the state announced 253 new coronavirus deaths. On Wednesday, the state announced 216 new coronavirus deaths, the first time daily deaths had exceeded 200.

The high number of daily deaths can be attributed to the state’s increase in daily coronavirus cases over the past month, including many days that surpassed 10,000 cases, according to Dr. Asal Johnson, epidemiologist and professor at Stetson University.

“The outcome of COVID-19, recovery or death, usually lags behind for one or two weeks and in some cases even more,” Johnson said in an email. “Unfortunately, I expect to see more high numbers of death as we continue to have high daily numbers and many hospitals are running out of ICU beds.”

As the state prepares for a possible impact from Hurricane Isaias over the weekend, all state-supported coronavirus testing sites closed as of 5 p.m. Thursday, and will reopen on a rolling basis depending on the level of impact, according to the state.

With the closure of these sites, Johnson said there could be lower numbers of COVID testing statewide.

“This factor should be considered in consideration of any type of metrics for next couple of weeks,” Johnson said.

The Florida Department of Health announced an additional 9,007 new coronavirus cases statewide Friday, bringing its total number to 470,386.

Florida now has the second-highest number of cases nationwide, behind California. On Sunday, Florida surpassed New York’s total number of cases, which had previously been the epicenter of the virus in the United States.

Volusia County Friday announced three new coronavirus-related deaths. The county’s total number of deaths is now 112, 65 of which are residents or staff of long-term care facilities.

The three new deaths are a 72-year-old man with an unknown travel and contact history, an 84-year-old man who had contact with a known case and an 81-year-old woman who did did not have a recent history of travel and it’s unknown if she had contact with a known case.

Volusia County reported 127 new coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing the total number to 6,834, 52 of which are non-residents.

On July 21, Volusia County set a new daily high for cases at 233. The previous high of 229 was set July 19, according to the Department of Health.

Flagler County reported a record number of new coronavirus cases Friday with 34, bringing the total to 901, 10 of which are non-residents.

Florida reached a grim milestone July 24 when statewide cases topped 400,000. This came just 19 days after Florida passed the 200,000 mark July 5.

By July 12, the state had surpassed the total number of cases reported in all of June. A total of 288,417 new coronavirus cases have been announced statewide so far this month.

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The state shattered its record July 12 with 15,300 new cases — the largest single-day increase in positive coronavirus cases in any one state since the start of the pandemic.

Florida marked its second-highest increase July 15 with 13,965 new cases. The state recorded its third-highest increase in cases July 18 with 12,624.

Meanwhile, on July 10, Volusia and Flagler counties both exceeded the number of new cases they reported in all of June.

Of the statewide cases, 465,030 were Florida residents and 5,356 were non-residents.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation has suspended the on-premises consumption of alcohol at bars statewide because of the spike in cases; but restaurants remain open.

New Smyrna Beach, Daytona Beach, DeLand and Orange City have made it mandatory to wear face masks. These cities have joined other large areas such as Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Orange County in adding the mandates. Daytona Beach and DeLand are the only cities to impose fines for not wearing masks. Deltona, Palm Coast, Bunnell, Flagler Beach and Flagler County stopped short of mandating masks, voting to strongly encourage residents to wear them. Other Volusia cities are considering mandates.

The state’s positivity rate, calculated by using the total number of people tested for the virus and the total number of people who have tested positive, was 10.57% on Friday. Over the past month, the daily positivity rate has not fallen under 9%.

The overall positivity rate statewide is 12.95%.

The state’s positivity rate exceeds the 10% target set nationwide.

Nationwide, health departments have directed states to have a positivity rate under 10% to safely begin a phased-in reopening of businesses such as gyms, bars and movie theaters. Florida started Phase 2 on June 5, which allowed bars and movie theaters to reopen. Phase 1 began May 4.

Departments combine this benchmark with hospitalizations and other health factors to determine when states can move on to the next phase.

The World Health Organization has a lower bar and said states must have a steady positivity rate of under 5% for two consecutive weeks to be categorized as having the virus under control.

Volusia County

On Friday, Volusia County reported an additional 127 coronavirus cases. This brings the total number of cases in the county to 6,834. Of those, 52 are non-residents.

Ages range from infant to 103, and the median age of cases is 42.

Of the Volusia cases, 87 were announced in March; 543 in April; 245 in May; 1,314 in June; and 4,660 so far in July.

Volusia County's positivity rate Thursday was 7.1%. Volusia’s overall positivity rate is now 10.31%.

In Volusia County, 3,146 of the positive cases are male, 3,612 are female and 24 are unknown genders. White residents make up 45% of the cases, Black residents make up 13% of the cases, 20% are other races and 23% are unknown.

So far in July, Volusia County has reported 55 coronavirus-related deaths. As of Friday, 31 were residents or staff of long-term care facilities.

Volusia County had 58 coronavirus deaths from March through June. Of those deaths, 28 were women and 30 were men. Ages of the deaths ranged from 33 to 102.

Of those, 36 were residents or staff of long-term care facilities, according to the FDOH, including 24 at Opis Coquina Center in Ormond Beach; six at Bishop’s Glen Retirement Center’s memory care unit in Holly Hill and one each listed at Bishop’s Glen assisted living unit; Deltona Health Care; Brookdale Ormond Beach West; Grand Villa of DeLand; Orange City Nursing and Rehab Center; and Woodland Towers in DeLand, according to the once-weekly updated list of deaths in long-term care facilities.

Flagler County

Flagler County reported an additional 35 cases on Friday, bringing the total number to 901. Of those, 10 are non-residents.

Ages range from 0-94. The median range is 47.

Of the Flagler County cases, 19 were announced in March; 115 in April; 50 in May; 139 in June; and 588 so far in July.

Flagler County's positivity rate Thursday was 9.1%. The overall positivity rate is now 6.64%.

There have been 395 reported male residents, 491 reported female residents and five unknown genders in the county with coronavirus, according to the Department of Health. White residents make up 58% of the positive cases in the county, 15% are black, 17% are other races and 9% are unknown.

Flagler County reported five coronavirus-related deaths between April and June ranging in age from 72 to 80. Three were women and two were men. Only one had a history of travel.

Five deaths have been reported so far in July.

1. An 83-year-old man who did not have a recent history of travel and did not have contact with a known case. Death reported July 15.

2. A 50-year-old man who had contact with a known case. Death reported July 16.

3. A 92-year-old man who had contact with a known coronavirus case. His death was reported July 23.

4. An 84-year-old man who did not have contact with a known case or recent history of travel.

5. An 80-year-old man with an unknown contact history and no recent travel history.

Tests and hospitalizations

Statewide, 3,633,393 coronavirus tests have been administered as of Fridayday, according to the Department of Health. This does not include tests performed at private labs.

As of Friday, the FDOH reported that 26,533 people were hospitalized with coronavirus.

Flagler County reported 78 people in total have been hospitalized, while Volusia County reported 519.

On Friday, 21 people in Flagler County were hospitalized with coronavirus and 132 in Volusia County, according to the Agency for Healthcare Administration.

ICU beds available by hospital as of Friday

AdventHealth Palm Coast has four available beds.

AdventHealth New Smyrna Beach has two available beds.

AdventHealth DeLand has nine available beds.

AdventHealth Fish Memorial has no available beds.

AdventHealth Daytona Beach has 10 available beds.

Halifax Health Medical Center has 38 available beds.

Halifax Health Medical Center-Port Orange has four available beds.

Halifax Health UF Health Medical Center of Deltona has three available beds.

Volusia County ZIP codes as of Friday

ZIP code 32102, which includes all of parts of Astor, has less than 5.

ZIP code 32114, which includes all or parts of Daytona Beach, South Daytona and Holly Hill, has 471 cases.

ZIP code 32117, which includes all or parts of Daytona Beach, Holly Hill and Ormond Beach, has 618.

ZIP code 32118, which includes all or parts of Daytona Beach, South Daytona, Ormond Beach, Port Orange, Daytona Beach Shores and Holly Hill, has 127.

ZIP code 32119, which includes all or parts of Daytona Beach, South Daytona and Port Orange, has 181.

ZIP code 32124, which is part of Daytona Beach, has 218. Tomoka Correctional Institution near Daytona Beach, which is in this ZIP code, last reported 167 inmates testing positive.

ZIP code 32127, which includes all or parts of Ponce Inlet, South Daytona, Port Orange, Daytona Beach Shores and New Smyrna Beach, has 176.

ZIP code 32128, which includes all or parts of Daytona Beach, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, Glencoe and Samsula-Spruce Creek, has 150.

ZIP code 32129, which includes all or parts of Daytona Beach, South Daytona and Port Orange, has 147.

ZIP code 32130, which includes all or parts of Bunnell and DeLeon Springs, has 101.

ZIP code 32132, which includes all or parts of Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach and Glencoe, has 54.

ZIP code 32136, which includes all or part of Flagler Beach, has 0.

ZIP code 32141, which includes all or parts of Edgewater and Oak Hill, has 105.

ZIP code 32168, which includes all or parts of Edgewater, Ponce Inlet, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, Glencoe and Samsula-Spruce Creek, has 222.

ZIP code 32169, which includes all or parts of Edgewater, Oak Hill, Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach, has 109.

ZIP code 32174, which includes all or parts of Bunnell, Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Holly Hill and Ormond-by-the-Sea, has 499 cases.

ZIP code 32176, which includes all or parts of Flagler Beach, Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Ormond-by-the-Sea, has 97.

ZIP code 32180, which includes all or parts of Pierson, Astor and Seville, has 125.

ZIP code 32190, which includes Seville, has 45.

ZIP code 32713, which includes all or parts of DeBary, Deltona and Orange City, has 289 cases.

ZIP code 32720, which includes all or parts of DeLand, Orange City, DeLand Southwest, DeLeon Springs, Lake Kathryn, Lake Mac-Forest Hills, North DeLand and West DeLand, has 519 cases.

ZIP code 32724, which includes all or parts of Lake Helen, DeLand, DeLand Southwest, DeLeon Springs and North DeLand, has 649.

ZIP code 32725, which includes all or parts of DeBary, DeLand, Deltona and Orange City, has 740.

ZIP code 32738, which includes all or parts of Lake Helen and Deltona, has 576.

ZIP code 32744, which includes all or parts of Lake Helen, DeLand and Deltona, has 28.

ZIP code 32754, which includes all or parts of Mims, has 0.

ZIP code 32759, which includes all or parts of Edgewater and Oak Hill, has 16.

ZIP code 32763, which includes all or part of DeBary, DeLand, Deltona, Orange City, has 427.

ZIP code 32764, which includes all or parts of Osteen, Deltona, has 27.

Flagler County ZIP codes as of Friday

ZIP code 32080, which includes all or parts of Marineland and Saint Augustine has 0.

ZIP code 32110, which includes all or parts of Palm Coast and Bunnell, has 120.

ZIP code 32136, which includes all or parts of Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Beverly Beach has 86.

ZIP code 32137, which includes all or parts of Flagler Beach, Bunnell, Marineland and Palm Coast, has 285.

ZIP code 32164, which includes all or parts of Palm Coast and Bunnell, has 395.

ZIP code 32174, which includes all or parts of Bunnell and Ormond Beach, has less than five.

*ZIP codes and numbers are listed as they are shown on the FDOH dashboard.

Other important numbers as of Friday

Number of positive cases in the United States: 4,495,612

Number of deaths in the United States: 152,082

Number of positive cases globally: 17,328,238

Number of deaths globally: 673,936

*Source: Florida Department of Health