ORLANDO, Fla. – Once making national headlines as a coronavirus hot-spot, Florida is now getting attention as a battleground state for the November election. As high-profile candidates visit the state, onlookers are noting mask-usage and other health and safety guidelines as Florida continues to report thousands of new cases of the virus.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday is scheduled to campaign in South Florida. Biden’s visit comes a day after President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail, hosting an in-person rally in Sanford, days after contracting COVID-19.
Since the president’s visit to Central Florida, his doctor addressed concerns about the president’s diagnosis, saying Trump had tested negative for the virus for consecutive days. He’s expected to return to Florida on Friday for a rally in Ocala.
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While on the campaign trail, Trump continues to answer to his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, touting the possibility of a vaccine. Just hours after his visit to Central Florida, Johnson & Johnson paused its vaccine trial after an unexplained illness in a participant. It is unclear if the participant was given the trial vaccine or a placebo.
Below is the information provided by the Florida Department of Health for Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Cases
The department of health reported 2,725 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the state’s overall total to 738,749.
Deaths
The Florida Department of Health on Tuesday reported 123 people have recently died from COVID-19. So far, 15,722 deaths across the state have been related to the coronavirus, a number that includes 191 non-resident deaths in Florida.
State health officials have always maintained that virus fatalities are often delayed in being reported to the FDOH, with some deaths not reported for a month or more.
Hospitalizations
The state reported 210 new hospitalizations on Tuesday, meaning the state has seen a total of 46,225 patients admitted into a hospital since March in relation to COVID-19.
Currently, there are 2,131 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
Positivity Rate
The state’s daily positivity rate was 4.96%. The statistic is based on the number of tests conducted Monday compared with the number of positive results. The state’s overall rate remains around 13%.
As of Monday evening, the state has conducted 5.6 million COVID-19 tests.
[SEE YESTERDAY’S REPORT: COVID-19 cases on the rise as President Trump campaigns in Florida]
If you are having trouble viewing the dashboard on mobile, click here.
Central Florida County-By-County Breakdown:
| County | Cases | New Cases | Hospitalizations | New Hospitalizations | Deaths | New Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 10,025 | 89 | 900 | 6 | 329 | 4 |
| Flagler | 1,883 | 8 | 157 | 1 | 33 | 1 |
| Lake | 7,973 | 34 | 663 | 11 | 209 | 3 |
| Marion | 10,198 | 31 | 1,012 | 4 | 326 | 2 |
| Orange | 42,401 | 182 | 1,452 | 9 | 520 | 4 |
| Osceola | 13,208 | 58 | 706 | 5 | 174 | 0 |
| Polk | 21,280 | 123 | 2,214 | 18 | 561 | 4 |
| Seminole | 9,499 | 40 | 694 | 3 | 232 | 0 |
| Sumter | 2,674 | 26 | 269 | 2 | 77 | 0 |
| Volusia | 11,582 | 50 | 894 | 11 | 294 | 5 |
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