ORLANDO, Fla. – For the past two weeks the Florida Department of Health reported less than 5,000 new coronavirus cases daily and the rate of infection has been under the medically advised percent for the same time period. The positive outlook continues Monday as the DOH reported 1,885 new cases, bringing the state’s overall total to 623,471 since March.
The last time Florida reported a new case count under 2,000 was on June 15.
The positivity rate-- the number of people who tested positive for the first time compared to overall tests-- also remained low Monday at 5.52 %.
Florida reported the lowest number of new deaths from the virus over the weekend since mid-June. On Monday, the state reported 68 people had recently died a a results of complications from COVID-19. Virus-related deaths are often delayed in reporting, which means those individuals likely died within the past two weeks. Florida’s death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 11,331 and includes 144 non-residents who died here.
The state reported 85 new hospitalizations on Monday, bringing the number of patients who stayed in hospitals due to the virus since March to 38,495. The Agency for Health Care Administration also tracks current hospitalizations. As of Monday morning, there are 3,740 people receiving care primarily for coronavirus at hospitals across Florida.
Volusia County Public Schools became the last school district in Central Florida to welcome students for the first time since the virus closed campuses across the state. Meanwhile, Orange County Public Schools sports get underway this week. Varsity high school football players had until Monday to decide to continue their education online or with their teammates in order to play for the fall semester.
Gov. Ron DeSantis held a roundtable Monday from the Florida capital with parents, education leaders and medical professionals, which included the White House’s new coronavirus adviser Dr. Scott Atlas.
Atlas spoke about a new strategy to test students before reopening brick-and-mortar schools to protect those more vulnerable for the virus.
“(It’s) really critical to understand that the new CDC guideline, which is that the purpose of testing is to protect the vulnerable,” he said. “It’s very well documented incontrovertibly that there is extremely low risk to children from this illness, not only low risk, but lower risk and seasonal influenza for both hospitalization and death. When you start the program of testing, simply to detect positive cases among asymptomatic, low-risk groups (there is really the only) outcome from that is close the schools. And the goal of testing is not to close things, the goal of testing is to protect the vulnerable.”
Across Central Florida, most of the 10 regional counties reported zero new COVID-19 fatalities on Monday. Four, including Lake, Marion, Orange and Polk individually reported one death.
Here’s a breakdown of new cases in the Central Florida region, according to the state DOH:
| County | Cases | New cases | Hospitalizations | New hospitalizations | Deaths | New deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 7,234 | 33 | 647 | 2 | 210 | 0 |
| Flagler | 1,312 | 2 | 108 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Lake | 6,396 | 11 | 404 | 2 | 117 | 1 |
| Marion | 8,496 | 27 | 751 | 4 | 180 | 1 |
| Orange | 35,902 | 132 | 1,106 | 6 | 377 | 1 |
| Osceola | 11,134 | 43 | 543 | 1 | 129 | 0 |
| Polk | 17,011 | 117 | 1,829 | 1 | 443 | 1 |
| Seminole | 8,029 | 23 | 574 | 0 | 172 | 0 |
| Sumter | 1,852 | 4 | 212 | 2 | 50 | 0 |
| Volusia | 9,283 | 39 | 704 | 0 | 189 | 0 |
Below is a look at the weekly COVID-19 trends in Florida since the virus first arrived in March.
Editor’s note: The numbers and data referenced in this story are publicly available on the Florida Department of Health website here and on the AHCA dashboard here.
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