More than 130 days after Florida’s first coronavirus case, the state released the current number of current COVID-19 positive patients hospitalized by county, showing nearly 7,000 Floridians are hospitalized across the state with the virus.
Since the Florida Department of Health began reporting cases of the coronavirus on March 1 the state has included the overall total of hospitalizations but not the current number.
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On Friday, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which regulates health care facilities across the state, released a breakdown by county of current patients in hospitals across the state with the primary diagnosis of COVID-19. The DOH dashboard still does not include current hospitalized virus patients.
According to the AHCA database, as of Friday evening there are 6,994 coronavirus patients in hospitals across the state. According to the DOH, 17,602 Florida residents have been hospitalized since March 1 with severe cases of the virus.
The data shows Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have the highest numbers of current COVID-19 patients.
In Central Florida, Orange County has 478 patients, Osceola has 183, according to the AHCA numbers.
View the breakdown below, including how many hospital and intensive care beds are available by county and facility:
As many who test positive for the virus will have minor or no symptoms, hospitalizations and deaths are the best way to monitor the severity of the pandemic.
More than 4,200 people have died in Florida as a result of the virus. This week Florida reported a record number of new deaths on Thursday with 120 in 24 hours, however, COVID-19 fatalities can take up to two weeks to report, according to the DOH.