Another day, another 200+ pandemic deaths and 6K infections in Florida

Image via AP.

Florida reported more than 200 new deaths from COVID-19-related causes Tuesday.

The latest report from the Department of Health shows the total number of pandemic deaths in Florida has reached 29,659. That’s an increase of 225 since the Monday daily report.

The death toll includes 29,154 Florida residents, as well as 505 out-of-state individuals who died here.

Meanwhile, the total caseload for COVID-19 infections in Florida rose to 1,837,285, a leap of 6,297 from the prior day. That total reflects 1,803,893 residents of the state of Florida, as well as 33,392 others who tested positive while visiting the state.

A total of 76,525 Florida residents have been hospitalized since the coronavirus first surfaced in Florida in March.

But the positivity rate for tests reported Monday remains below 10%, the level generally seen as the threshold for whether virus spread is under control. Health officials on Monday tallied 10,450 positive tests compared to 110,542 negative ones, putting the positivity rate for the 120,992 total tests at 8.64%.

That makes eight days straight with a rate under 10%, and 11 days out of the last 14.

Meanwhile, Florida reports that 2,430,637 individuals in the state have now been administered at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. That includes 1,135,963 who have received a shot and a booster, finishing the vaccination schedule, and another 1,294,674 who had a first dose but await a second shot.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not updated its figures on how many individuals have been infected with the B.1.1.7 variant. That federal dashboard still lists 379 cases in Florida out of 1,173 infections nationally, the same number released Monday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has remained optimistic about progress, and also defiant about ever returning the state to lockdown conditions, especially in schools. That comes even as Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a potential Democratic opponent to DeSantis in 2022, blasted the Governor’s hands-off policies as driven by loyalty to Donald Trump instead of science or logic.

Editor’s note on methodology: The Florida Department of Health releases new data every morning around 10:45 a.m. The total number reported in those daily reports include the previous day’s totals as well as the most up to date data as of about 9:30 a.m.

Florida Politics uses the report-over-report increase to document the number of new cases each day because it represents the most up-to-date data available. Some of the more specific data, including positivity rates and demographics, considers a different data set that includes only cases reported the previous day.

This is important to note because the DOH report lists different daily totals than our methodology to show day-over-day trends. Their numbers do not include nonresidents who tested positive in the state and they only include single-day data, therefore some data in the DOH report may appear lower than what we report.

Our methodology was established based on careful consideration among our editorial staff to capture both the most recent and accurate trends.