ORLANDO, Fla. – One day before the nation decides on its top elected leader amid a global pandemic, President Donald Trump is threatening to fire the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and multiple European countries are under new lockdowns prompted by the coronavirus.
In Florida, a state expected to make or break Trump’s re-election bid, officials continue to report a slow but steady rise in hospitalizations and cases from COVID-19. On Monday, the Florida Department of Health reported more than 4,600 new cases of the virus, and the state surpassed 17,000 deaths from the virus. Historically, coronavirus cases are lower following the weekend due to a lack of reporting by laboratories and weekend staffing, but Sunday saw more than 4,800 cases.
The virus has weighed heavily on the 2020 election and whoever wins will need to lead the country through an increasing surge of infections.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a Washington Post interview Friday that the U.S. will have to deal with “a whole lot of hurt” in the weeks ahead due to surging coronavirus cases.
Fauci said the U.S. “could not possibly be positioned more poorly” to stem rising cases as more people gather indoors during the colder fall and winter months. He says the U.S. will need to make an “abrupt change” in public health precautions.
The virus has killed more than 231,000 people in the United States this year.
[READ YESTERDAY’S COVID-19 REPORT: Health officials report over 4,000 new COVID-19 cases in Florida]
If you are having trouble viewing the dashboard above on mobile, tap or click here.
Cases
The Florida Department of Health reported 4,651 new cases on Monday, bringing the state’s overall total to 812,063 cases since March.
Deaths
The Florida Department of Health on Monday reported 46 people have recently died from COVID-19. As of Monday’s coronavirus report, a total of 17,043 deaths across the state have been related to the coronavirus, a number that includes 209 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
Currently, there are 2,445 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida as of Monday morning, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration, an increase by about 100 patients in the last 24 hours.
The state reported 81 new hospitalizations on Monday, meaning the state has seen a total of 49,485 patients admitted to a hospital since March in relation to COVID-19.
Positivity Rate
The percent of positive results ranged from 3.66% to 6.75% over the past two weeks and was 6.47% Monday.
Below is a breakdown of the coronavirus numbers across the 10-county Central Florida region for Monday, Nov. 2:
| County | Cases | New cases | Hospitalizations | New hospitalizations | Deaths | New deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 11,888 | 108 | 1,030 | 1 | 375 | 0 |
| Flagler | 2,193 | 12 | 171 | 0 | 40 | 1 |
| Lake | 8,785 | 56 | 733 | 1 | 227 | 0 |
| Marion | 10,998 | 21 | 1,071 | 1 | 351 | 1 |
| Orange | 46,986 | 261 | 1,605 | 5 | 561 | 1 |
| Osceola | 14,474 | 94 | 836 | 4 | 207 | 0 |
| Polk | 23,405 | 99 | 2,469 | 2 | 625 | 2 |
| Seminole | 10,512 | 42 | 753 | 1 | 243 | 2 |
| Sumter | 2,967 | 7 | 291 | 1 | 86 | 0 |
| Volusia | 13,089 | 81 | 972 | 1 | 324 | 2 |
To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter and go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.