Florida cases spike past 5,700; Polk’s positive tests grow to 63

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UPDATE — 7 P.M. MONDAY

Florida's confirmed cases of coronavirus continue to spike, sitting at 5,704 in the Monday night advisory from the Department of Health.

All told, 754 new cases were reported in two advisories from state health officials — 523 midday and 231 in the evening. A total of 5,489 cases are identified as state residents and 215 as non-residents.

Deaths also continue to increase, now at 71.

Polk County added 8 more cases in the second report and now stands at 63 — 34 women and 29 men.

Of the 63 confirmed cases, 21 are hospitalized, leaving Polk with a 33.3% hospitalization rate, a sign of the advanced status in those individual cases. The state average is just 12.5% (715 hospitalizations for 5,704 confirmed cases).

In the midday advisory, there were 10 Polk cities identified with confirmed cases of COVID-19 — Davenport with 17, Lakeland and Winter Haven each with 10, Kissimmee with 9, Lake Wales with 3, Bartow with 2, and Mulberry, Champions Gate and Haines City with 1 each.

The detailed report on state data was not immediately available with the night report, but the 55-64 age group leads Polk's cases with 12, followed by 45-54 with 11, 35-44 with 10, 65-74 with 9, 25-34 and 75-84 with 7 each, 15-24 with 4, 5-14 with 2 and 85-plus with 1.

Entering Monday night, the U.S. was reporting 160,020 cases of COVID-19 with 2,953 deaths. Global cases stood at 777,286 with 37,140 deaths.

UPDATE — 1 P.M. MONDAY

Florida's growing spread of COVID-19 jumped 523 cases in the midday report Monday from the Department of Health to 5,473 positive cases (5,276 Florida residents, 197 non-residents). The death toll also increased to 63.

And just like the state, Polk County also saw a spike in positive tests, increasing by 9 and now standing at 55 (30 women, 25 men). The list of cities with positive cases in the county has jumped to 10.

The 35-44 and 45-54 age groups lead the positive tests in Polk with 10 each. Following is the 55-64 age group at 9, 65-74 at 8, 75-84 at 7, 25-34 at 6, 15-24 at 3, and 5-14 and 85-plus at 1.

Of the 55 confirmed cases, 19 are hospitalized, leaving Polk with a 34.5% hospitalization rate, a sign of the advanced status in those individual cases. The state average is just 11.9% (652 hospitalizations for 5,473 confirmed cases).

The state is reporting that nearly 100 more tests have been examined in Polk, now at 878. From those tests, 55 have returned positive and 823 are negative. The state is reporting that 40 other tests are pending results. Polk currently has a 6% positive test rate, which is below the state rate which inched up to 10.1% (5,473 confirmed cases, 54,182 tests).

Davenport continues to be the hot spot for Polk County cases with 17 positive tests, but as test results come in, Winter Haven and Lakeland keep climbing, now both at 10 confirmed cases. Kissimmee is next at 9 followed by Lake Wales with 3, Bartow with 2, and Frostproof, Mulberry, Champions Gate and Haines City with 1 each.

Kissimmee, which is located in two counties, actually has the 13th most confirmed cases in the state with 78. A total of 69 of those are located in the Osceola County portion of the city.

In the region, Orange has recorded the most positive tests with 293, followed by Hillsborough with 253, Pinellas with 126 and Osceola with 94.

The I-4 corridor in Polk’s region remains the state’s second-highest area for confirmed cases with the 5 contiguous counties of Hillsborough, Orange, Pinellas, Polk and Osceola now having 821 confirmed cases, or 15% of the state’s total positive tests.

Dade County leads the state with 1,632 cases followed by Broward with 1,152 and Palm Beach with 423. The epicenter of the current outbreak in Florida, those South Florida counties’ 3,207 cases represent 58.6% of the state’s positive tests.

Statewide, among test results for Florida residents, the 45-54 age group leads all confirmed cases with 956, followed by 55-64 at 899, 25-34 at 812, 35-44 at 809, 65-74 at 731, 75-84 at 457, 15-24 at 414, 85-plus at 149, 5-14 at 31 and 0-4 at 15. There are 3 outstanding cases not assigned yet to an age group.

From the state numbers for positive tests among Florida residents, 2,807 are male, or 53%, and 2,309 are female, or 43%. There are 160 cases that have yet to identified by gender.

At midday Monday, the U.S. was reporting 144,672 cases of COVID-19 with 2,571 deaths. Global cases stood at 745,308 with 35,305 deaths.

ORIGINAL STORY

The number of confirmed cases for the novel coronavirus will surpass 5,000 today as the current total sits at 4,950 entering Monday (4,768 Florida residents, 182 non-residents), according to the Florida Department of Health.

The death toll also continues to climb, standing at 60 in the state health report released Sunday night.

Polk County’s cases increased by 9 in the two advisories released Sunday by state health officials, now standing at 46 (all are Florida residents). Of those cases, 16 are listed as hospitalized, meaning Polk's hospitalization rate (a sign of the case's advanced status) is at 34.8%. That is well above the state average of 13.3% (633 hospitalizations for 4,768 cases) for Florida residents. The state is not listing hospitalizations for non-residents.

The state is reporting that a slowly increasing 786 test results have been returned for Polk with the 46 confirmed cases and 740 that were negative. There are 40 tests pending results. Polk is testing at a 6% positive rate which is below the climbing state rate of 10% (4,950 positive cases, 49,443 tests examined).

Davenport continues to be the hot spot for Polk County cases with 16 positive tests. Kissimmee is next at 9 followed by Lakeland and Winter Haven with 7 each, Lake Wales with 3, Bartow with 2, and Mulberry and Haines City with 1 each.

Kissimmee, which is located in two counties, actually has the 12th most confirmed cases in the state with 75. A total of 66 of those are located in the Osceola County portion of the city.

In Polk, the 35-44 age group has the most confirmed cases with 9 followed by 55-64 with 8. The 45-54 and 75-84 age groups each have 7 cases, 25-34 with 6, 65-74 with 5, 15-24 with 2, and 5-14 and 85-plus with 1 each.

Dade County leads the state with 1,474 cases followed by Broward with 1,012 and Palm Beach with 383. The epicenter of the current outbreak in Florida, those South Florida counties’ 2,869 cases represent 58% of the state’s positive tests.

In the region, Orange has recorded the most positive tests with 268, followed by Hillsborough with 225, Pinellas with 116 and Osceola with 89.

The I-4 corridor in Polk’s region remains the state’s second-highest area for confirmed cases with the 5 contiguous counties of Hillsborough, Orange, Pinellas, Polk and Osceola now having 744 confirmed cases, or 15% of the state's total positive tests.

Statewide, among test results for Florida residents, the 45-54 age group leads all confirmed cases with 871, followed by 55-64 at 804, 25-34 at 722, 35-44 at 713, 65-74 at 668, 75-84 at 424, 15-24 at 383, 85-plus at 138, 5-14 at 29 and 0-4 at 13. There are 3 outstanding cases not assigned yet to an age group.

From the state numbers for positive tests among Florida residents, 2,536 are male, or 53%, and 2,067 are female, or 43%. There are 165 cases that have yet to identified by gender.

Entering Monday, the U.S. was reporting 143,055 cases of COVID-19 with 2,513 deaths. Global cases stood at 735,560 with 34,686 deaths.