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The state saw seven new reported coronavirus deaths from the Tuesday report from the Florida Department of Health, including the 50th fatality in Polk County that pushes the eight-county region’s death toll to 200.
The statewide toll stands at 2,259 deaths from 52,170 positive COVID-19 cases. The Tuesday tally is in an increase of 424 cases since Monday. Testing since the outbreak began has now risen to 909,928 with 94.4% coming up with negative results.
There have been 58 new hospitalizations since Monday bringing the total this year to 9,482. It’s the third day in a row that new hospitalizations have been less than 100 after six straight days of at least 170 daily including 265 on May 21.
The lone new death in Central Florida was in Polk County, which leads the region with 50 deaths, followed by Orange with 39, Volusia with 37, Osceola with 18, Sumter with 17, Lake with 15, and Seminole and Brevard with 12 each.
Central Florida cases increased Tuesday by 50 for the second day in a row for a total of 5,477. That included 18 new cases in Orange for a total of 1,849; 13 in Polk for 891; seven in Volusia for 680; four in Osceola for 662; four in Seminole for 465; one in Brevard for 399; and two in Lake for 277 and one in Sumter for 254. (See details on all Central Florida cases here).
South Florida, home to 28.9% of Florida’s population, remains the hardest hit region, accounting for 56.3% of cases with 29,396 total. That number includes 240 new cases reported Tuesday among Miami-Dade (17,168), Broward (6,799) and Palm Beach (5,429) counties. The region also has the most deaths at 1,248, 55.2% of state fatalities. The three county-region saw an additional two reported deaths Tuesday, both in Broward.
The state’s deadliest day was May 4 with 59 reported fatalities, according to the Florida Department of Health. In April, the U.S. peaked at nearly 2,300 deaths in one day.
Nationwide cases are over 1.6 million with more than 98,000 reported deaths. Worldwide, there are 5.5 million cases and over 346,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.
The U.S. has the most fatalities by far followed by the United Kingdom’s with more nearly 37,000 deaths, Italy with close to 33,000, France with more than 28,000, Spain with nearly 27,000 and Brazil with more than 23,000 deaths.
In the U.S., New York has the most deaths with more than 29,000 followed by New Jersey with more than 11,000. Florida ranks 11th in fatalities, but with more than 21 million in population and less than 1 in 1,000 deaths in the state, it ranks in the mid-20s for death rate.
Looking week over week, Sunday’s tally in Florida showed the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the state went up by 5,279, marking the end of a three-week streak where reported cases were under 5,000.
The run from May 17-24 showed the total grew from 45,588 to 50,867. Meanwhile, Florida’s virus death toll rose from 1,973 to 2,237. Deaths in that span increased by 264, slightly more than the 252 reported over the prior week. The previous five weeks had all seen at least 300 deaths.
Click here for a timeline of how the coronavirus crisis grew in Central Florida.
You can sign up for new daily Florida coronavirus update by subscribing to The Health Report newsletter and as-they-happen Breaking News emails at OrlandoSentinel.com/newsletters.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story cited Florida’s death rate as less than 1 in 100,000. It is less than 1 in 1,000.
Local coronavirus victims: Their lives remembered
Herman Boehm of Mount Dora, who enjoyed a life filled with adventures with his wife, died March 29 after contracting coronavirus. He was 86. Well into his 80s, Boehm enjoyed near-annual trips to Europe with his wife. Earlier in life, they spent a year cruising in the Bahamas on a sailboat. They went scuba diving and skiing. They danced the Argentine Tango.
A fiesty woman who witnessed World War II and 9/11 firsthand, Ada Ficarra’s story is one of survival, said her daughter Liz Starr. Born in the small town of Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Ficarra died April 26 at Sonata West, an assisted living facility in Winter Garden, where she had lived since 2018. She was 79.
Central Florida owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Neil G. Powell for many of the region’s brightest smiles. Powell was not only a dentist but an organizer of the community of dentists. The Orlando resident died April 22 at age 93 of COVID-19-related pneumonia. An Air Force veteran who fought in World War II, Powell grew up in Sanford and served as president of the Florida Society of Dentistry for Children, the Orange County Dental Society, the Central District Dental Society and the Florida Dental Association. He served on the national American Dental Association.
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 Monday 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 Monday 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.