Florida’s Department of Health reported 91 more Florida resident deaths on Monday to bring the state toll to 8,277 while new positive cases of COVID-19 continued to fall.
The state reported 4,155 new infections, the lowest increase since June 23 for a total to date of 536,931, or about one in every 40 people of the state’s 21.5 million population.
It also reported another two non-Florida resident deaths bringing that toll to 131 for a combined toll of 8,408.
The state endured its second week in a row logging more than 1,000 reported deaths, reporting 1,102 fatalities. The previous week had set a record with 1,230 reported resident deaths and the last 30 days have seen more than 4,000 reported fatalities.
Sunday-Sunday also saw the most new hospitalizations yet, with 3,355 new COVID-19-related admissions.
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To date, 30,785 people have been hospitalized in Florida, the state’s COVID-19 dashboard shows, up 280 more than a day earlier. From June through mid-July in Florida, there were 207 new hospitalizations a day on average. That has spiked to a daily average of near 450 since mid-July.
Cases, though, have fallen back to below 10,000 daily for 16 days in row. The state’s record for a single-day increase was set July 12 with 15,300 new cases.
Over 4 million people have been tested in Florida, with 28,247 more tests reported Monday compared with the previous day. Over 2.9 million tests have been administered since May 31.
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Statewide, Florida’s Department of Health reported a positivity rate of 8.60% for Sunday, but that’s for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive. For all cases including retests of those previously infected, yesterday’s positivity rate was 12.26%. (Read more: Florida’s hidden data skews COVID-19 test results)
Across the state, 6,904 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of about 10 a.m. Monday. The state’s online tool updates several times throughout the day. Orange County reported 334 patients hospitalized, Osceola with 135, Seminole with 108, and Lake with 82.
Central Florida on Monday added 552 cases for a total of 83,790: 132 new cases in Orange for 31,851; 174 in Polk for 14,475; 73 in Osceola for 9,769; 84 in Volusia for 7,960; 34 in Seminole for 7,192; 35 in Brevard for 6,099; 16 in Lake for 5,177; and four in Sumter for 1,307. (See details on all Central Florida cases here).
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Central Florida had two of Monday’s newly reported deaths, bringing the region’s toll to 1,230. Both were in Polk County, a 69-year-old man and 69-year-old woman. Polk leads Central Florida in coronavirus fatalities with 314, followed by 298 in Orange, 151 in Brevard, 135 in Volusia, 119 in Seminole, 104 in Osceola, 68 in Lake, and 41 in Sumter.
Central Florida accounts for 15.6% of the cases statewide and nearly 15% of the deaths. The region’s share of the state’s deaths has ticked up compared with June and the start of July, when it had steadily remained at under 9% of Florida’s total.
South Florida, home to 29% of Florida’s population, accounts for about 44% of cases with 233,818 total. That includes 2,069 new cases reported Monday among Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
South Florida’s reported deaths on Monday rose by 32 for a total of 3,631, about 44% of the state’s total.
A detailed breakdown of Florida’s coronavirus cases can be found here, and county-by-county data can be found here.
List of mobile coronavirus and antibody testing sites in Central Florida by county
The virus has infected nearly 20 million people and has killed over 731,000 worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S. has over 5 million cases, the highest in the world, and over 163,000 are dead.
The U.S. has the most fatalities by far, followed by Brazil with over 101,000, Mexico with over 52,000, the United Kingdom with over 46,000, India with over 44,000, Italy with over 35,000, and France with over 30,000.
Within the U.S., New York has the most deaths with over 32,000, followed by New Jersey with over 15,000.
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Local coronavirus victims: Their lives remembered
Deborah Denise Henson spent much of her adult life in pain — the result of a freakish accident that left her with plates and screws in her back. But you wouldn’t have known it from her smile. She survived a host of medical problems before succumbing to COVID-19.
Pong Hui Chartier, known as “Connie” to customers at the dry cleaning business she operated in Ocoee, liked to do things her way. “She’s never been someone that rested. She was always go, go, go. If anyone was going to live to be 100, it would be my mother,” her daughter said. At 79, Pong Hui took only one medication — for her thyroid. But in early March, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. Weeks later, she died as a victim of coronavirus.
Pneumonia caused by COVID-19 killed both Pete and Eleanor Baker, retired snowbirds who were married nearly 62 years and spent winters in an RV in Central Florida.
See more Central Florida coronavirus obituaries here.
Symptoms? Do this
Are you feeling stressed or depressed from the COVID19 outbreak? There are resources available for you. You can contact the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or visit https://www.samhsa.gov/disaster-preparedness
How to protect yourself
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Stay home when you are sick and avoid contact with people in poor health.
Don’t touch your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then dispose of the tissue.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
Clean and disinfect touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
Follow these recommendations for using a face mask: The CDC now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social-distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. Follow these guidelines for using a cloth mask.
Questions? Here are numbers to call
The Florida Department of Health has set up a call center to answer questions about coronavirus. There’s a number for Orange County, too.
The Florida Department of Health’s number is 1-866-779-6121 and is available Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents may also email questions to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.
In Orange County, the number to call is 407-723-5004; it’s available Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For mental-health help, here is a list of resources.
For accurate, up-to-date information, visit
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov
The Florida Department of Health: floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/COVID-19. For questions, call the COVID-19 call center at 866-779-6121 or email COVID-19@flhealth.gov.
A live map of COVID-19 cases around the globe: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
You want to be extra-prepared? Here’s how to stock up before a pandemic: ready.gov/pandemic
For the latest coronavirus updates, visit OrlandoSentinel.com/coronavirus and follow @orlandosentinel on Twitter.
See complete coverage at OrlandoSentinel.com/coronavirus.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
