Temporary reprieve? Hillsborough, Pinellas see slight dip in new coronavirus cases Sunday

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As Florida saw a dip in new coronavirus cases Sunday, a reprieve from several days of record-setting highs, that trend was not as clear in Hillsborough County.

The Florida Department of Health reported 352 new cases Sunday in its most recent data dump Monday morning. That’s only down slightly from the 390 cases reported Saturday and 398 Friday, which is the county’s current record for a single day.

The county now has a total of 5,973 cases reported since the start of the virus in March, up more than 1,000 since Friday’s report.

Hillsborough continues to have the highest number of cases outside of South Florida, behind only Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Meanwhile, Pinellas County’s data reflected the statewide dip. The county reported 200 new cases Sunday, down from 317 Saturday, the county’s single-day record. There have now been 3,854 cases reported in the county, up about 700 from Friday’s report.

Pinellas is 6th in the state behind Orange County.

Despite having fewer cases, Pinellas maintains a higher death toll and its number of hospitalizations are only slightly lower than Hillsborough’s.

One hundred and seventeen individuals have died due to COVID-19 in Pinellas compared to 115 in Hillsborough. Pinellas County’s fatality rate is 3%, Hillsborough’s is just 2%. Hospitalizations in Hillsborough reached 574 Sunday while Pinellas barely trails with 542.

Those indicators are likely due to Pinellas County’s higher incidence of outbreaks in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. A total of 778 of the county’s cases were associated with longterm care facilities, or 21% of all cases. In Hillsborough, 658 cases originated from such facilities, which is only 11% of its total cases.

Those numbers are dropping, however, with new cases trending much younger. The median age of coronavirus patients is now 41 in Pinellas and 36 in Hillsborough.

Both counties saw a dip in positivity rates Sunday. In Hillsborough, 11.5% of all tests Sunday were positive, a drop from more than 16% on Friday and Saturday. Pinellas County’s positive test rate was 7.2%, down from more than 14% on Friday and Saturday.