Hillsborough, Pinellas again shatter coronavirus records

Both Hillsborough and Pinellas County again set new records, furthering a coronavirus trend that becomes more troubling by the day.

Hillsborough County added 1,102 new cases Friday, according to Florida Department of Health data released Saturday. That’s nearly 400 more than the county’s previous record set Tuesday, which was 713, revised upward from 709.

Pinellas County added 608 new cases, shattering its previous record of 432 set Thursday.

Pinellas now has 5,713 total cases and Hillsborough 9,130.

Hillsborough County has added 3,981 new cases over the past week alone, 43.6% of all cases. Pinellas has added 2,398 over the past week accounting for 42% of all of its cases.

Bunking claims that the rise in cases is attributable to an uptick in testing, both counties continue seeing spikes in daily positivity rates. Hillsborough County returned 17.1% of all tests positive and has a seven day average of 15.26%. Pinellas County’s single day rate Friday was 13.3%, with a seven day average of 11.93%.

There is some good news. The average age of infected individuals continues to trend downward. The median age of patients in Hillsborough is now 34, down from 35 the day prior. Pinellas’ median age remains 39.

Hillsborough County reported no new deaths Friday, remaining at 132, and only two additional patients were admitted to a hospital, bringing that total to 599 throughout the course of the pandemic. Both metrics are below the state average.

In Pinellas, however, 13 more people were hospitalized totaling 623, and eight people died, raising the death toll to 149. That accounts for 11% and 3% of all cases, respectively, the same as the state averages.

Cases at longterm care facilities in Pinellas are on the decline with just 10% of all cases originating from nursing homes or assisted living facilities, down from a quarter of all cases just two weeks ago.