The state of Florida reported 3,571 new coronavirus cases Thursday. The new cases bring the state’s overall total to 637,013 since March.
Florida’s positivity rate, the number of people who tested positive for the first time compared to overall tests, remained below 10% Wednesday. The Florida Department of Health has not released the positivity data for Thursday as of this publication.
Medical officials say the rate should be below 10% for at least two weeks to show a decline in infections, with the state working to bring the cumulative percent positive rate down to 10%, too.
The World Health Organization said that a region’s test positivity rate needs to be below 5% for at least 14 days to relax restrictions.
The state reported 270 new hospitalized patients on Thursday, bringing the number of people who stayed in hospitals due to the virus since March to 39,428.
According to the Agency for Health Care Administration, there were 3,348 people receiving care primarily for coronavirus at hospitals across Florida on Thursday.
Deaths continue to rise in Florida for those who contracted the virus.
The FDOH reported an additional 149 people had recently died as a result of complications from COVID-19. Florida’s death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 11,800 and includes 150 non-residents and 11,650 Florida residents.
Virus-related deaths are often delayed in reporting, which means those individuals likely died within the past two weeks.
[SEE WEDNESDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports fewer than 2,500 new COVID-19 cases]
Here’s a breakdown of new cases in the Central Florida region, according to the FDOH for Sept. 3:
| County | Total Cases | New Cases | Total Hospitalizations | New Hospitalizations | Total Deaths | New Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 7,464 | 41 | 677 | 6 | 223 | 5 |
| Flagler | 1,340 | 11 | 110 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Lake | 6,622 | 41 | 442 | 12 | 126 | 5 |
| Marion | 8,675 | 42 | 794 | 13 | 200 | 8 |
| Orange | 36,668 | 180 | 1,118 | 4 | 386 | 3 |
| Osceola | 11,342 | 44 | 558 | 3 | 132 | 1 |
| Polk | 17,418 | 126 | 1,883 | 16 | 461 | 6 |
| Seminole | 8,240 | 42 | 584 | 0 | 175 | 2 |
| Sumter | 1,957 | 43 | 217 | 1 | 55 | 1 |
| Volusia | 9,524 | 106 | 712 | 2 | 196 | 3 |
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.
As Florida continues to follow a trend of lower case counts and lower positivity rates, Gov. Ron DeSantis is ready to welcome back tourism in the Sunshine State -- even if it is in-state travel only.
On Wednesday, Gov. DeSantis and Visit Florida officials announced a new in-state marketing campaign designed to encourage in-state travel by Floridians during a news conference Wednesday in Daytona Beach.
“Our data has determined that people right now, even though many are ready to travel they feel more comfortable traveling closer to home, and right now they’re feeling more comfortable driving,” Dana Young, CEO of Visit Florida said.
DeSantis said from March 1 to June 30, when comparing numbers year over year, the number of people visiting Central Florida decreased 67%. In that same period, room demand at local hotels decreased by 75%, according to DeSantis.
“This is really going to be I think an invaluable tool to help show folks that Florida is back,” DeSantis said.
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