Florida added 3,266 coronavirus cases Tuesday to push the statewide total to 704,568 infected. With 106 new virus fatalities reported statewide, 14,143 Florida residents are now dead.
Each report includes deaths from several previous days, as it can take two weeks or more for fatalities to be logged.
As local counties adjusted their emergency orders Monday to eliminate potential fines after such penalties were banned by Gov. Ron DeSantis across Florida, officials in Orange County cautioned residents that they are tracking superspreader events where they believe large numbers of people became infected.
The Florida Department of Health hasn’t reported a daily increase above 10,000 infections since July 25. But testing has declined statewide, to a daily average of about 23,200 so far in September. That’s down from about 32,000 daily tests on average in August and 54,400 a day in July.
Nearly 5.3 million people have been tested in Florida, with 28,452 more tests reported Tuesday compared with the previous day.
Florida will receive 6.4 million antigen tests from the federal government to help the state protect vulnerable residents, DeSantis said Tuesday.
The Florida Department of Health did not immediately release the latest positivity rate on Tuesday. The most recent figures are below. Statewide, the latest positivity rate reported by the Florida Department of Health was 5.01%, but that’s for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive. For all cases including retests of those previously infected, the latest positivity rate is 6.67%. (Read more: Florida’s hidden data skews COVID-19 test results)
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Central Florida on Tuesday added 686 cases for a total of 111,413: 234 new cases in Orange for 40,224; 86 in Polk for 19,974; 58 in Osceola for 12,513; 64 in Volusia for 10,898; 44 in Seminole for 9,053; 135 in Brevard for 8,983; 42 in Lake for 7,517; and 23 in Sumter for 2,251. (See details on all Central Florida cases here).
Central Florida had 17 of Tuesday’s newly reported deaths, bringing the region’s toll to 2,132. Polk County, due to nursing-home outbreaks, has the most coronavirus fatalities in the region with 529, followed by 446 in Orange, 295 in Brevard, 244 in Volusia, 211 in Seminole, 190 in Lake, 148 in Osceola, and 69 in Sumter.
Central Florida accounts for nearly 16% of the cases statewide and 15% of the deaths.
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COVID-19 hospitalizations have been steadily falling from mid-July highs of over 8,000. Across the state, 2,161 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of about 11 a.m. Tuesday. The state’s online tool updates several times throughout the day.
Orange County reported 117 patients hospitalized, Osceola with 66, Seminole with 34, and Lake with 37 as of about about 11 a.m. Tuesday.
To date, 43,855 people have been hospitalized in Florida, the state’s COVID-19 dashboard shows. But those numbers could include cases that are weeks old.
South Florida, home to 29% of Florida’s population, accounts for about 42% of cases with 293,693 total. That includes 686 new cases reported Tuesday among Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
South Florida’s reported deaths rose by 26 Tuesday for a total of 5,977, about 42% of the state’s total.
The latest 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 over 33.4 million people and has killed over 1 million worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. Nationwide, over 7.1 million people have been infected and over 205,000 are dead.
Since April, America has led the world by far in sheer numbers of confirmed infections and deaths. The U.S. has less than 5% of the globe’s population but more than 20% of the reported deaths.
Black and Hispanic people and American Indians have accounted for a disproportionate share of the deaths, underscoring the economic and health care disparities in the U.S.
Millions of Americans are counting on a COVID-19 vaccine to curb the pandemic and return life to normal. While one or more options could be available toward the end of this year or early next, the path to delivering vaccines to 330 million people remains unclear for the local health officials expected to carry out the work.
Many Americans have resisted wearing masks and social distancing, calling such precautions an overreaction or an infringement on their liberty. Public health experts say the problem has been compounded by confusing and inconsistent guidance from politicians and a patchwork quilt of approaches to containing the scourge by county, state and federal governments.
Brazil has the second-most fatalities with over 142,000, India with over 96,000, Mexico with over 76,000, the United Kingdom with over 42,000, Italy with over 35,000, and Peru with over 32,000.
Within the U.S., New York has the most deaths with over 33,000, followed by New Jersey with over 16,000.
The actual number of cases around the world is believed to be much higher than reported — perhaps 10 times higher in the U.S., according to the CDC — given testing limitations and the many mild cases that have gone unreported or unrecognized.
Some of the worst-hit nations have been those whose leaders have downplayed the severity of COVID-19, undercut the advice of health experts and pushed unproven remedies.
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Local coronavirus victims: Their lives remembered
Juan Carlos Sosa has been described as “Juan in a million,” but for his family he is “Juan the one and only.” Whenever someone needed help, there he was, willing to assist, no matter the day or time. Now, he will no longer greet students with a big smile when they arrive at Celebration K-8 school and will never be able sing in the car with his daughter. Juan Carlos died on Aug. 30 at age 57. His family believes he was infected with coronavirus after he celebrated his birthday at the school where he was a custodian.
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.
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. Joe Mario Pedersen, Ryan Gillespie, Stephen Hudak and Martin Comas of the Sentinel staff, and The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
