After June brings 100K COVID-19 cases, July starts with 6,563

State health officials reported 6,563 new COVID-19 diagnoses Wednesday as the recent uptick in infections continues.

With the state’s leading hot spots extending outside of South Florida, the Sunshine State now reports 158,997 confirmed infections in the last four months. Of those cases, more than 100,000 were confirmed in June.

Another 45 residents died and one non-Floridian died in the state, raising those death tolls to 3,550 and 100 respectively. And an additional 245 residents were hospitalized, raising the count of those hospitalized during the pandemic to 14,825.

The record number of newly reported cases came Saturday, when the Department of Health (DOH) showed 9,585 new cases. Still, new cases this week are greater than they were by the same time last week.

But despite a drop off in both new cases and test results since the end of last week, the percent positivity rate remains on the rise, which Gov. Ron DeSantis says indicates a growing pandemic. For Tuesday, the most recent complete day available, the percent positivity rate among people who had not previously tested positive was greater than 15%.

DeSantis has also said the pandemic’s growth is mostly, if not exclusively, limited to young Floridians. The median age of new cases plummeted from the 50s to the early and mid-30s in the last few weeks, returning to 37 early this week and 36 Tuesday.

At the time of publication, 4,988 of the state’s 6,035 adult ICU beds are filled, making 17% available. That’s a lower percentage over recent weeks, but greater availability than the state had before the pandemic.

Officials have tested nearly 2 million people for COVID-19 in the state, including 45,366 individuals Tuesday.

While South Florida remains the largest hot spot of the virus, cases are also growing in Central Florida, Southwest Florida and the Jacksonville area.

DOH reported 1,141 new cases in Miami-Dade County, where now 37,961 have tested positive. Broward County added 531 cases to reach 16,155 and Palm Beach County has 14,447 overall, including 297 more in Wednesday’s report.

Hillsborough County has 11,465 after receiving 713 new positives. Cases in Pinellas County are also on the rise with 6,861 total, an increase of 374.

Orange County, another resurgent county, now has 10,874 cases after counting 560 new positives.

Duval County reports 6,480 total cases, an increase of 641.

Lee County shows 5,869 cases, a jump of 281 cases. And Collier County had an increase of 151 cases to hit 4,376 overall.