Florida Sees Daily COVID-19 Increase Over Past 45 Days
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - Health officials in Florida have reported a steady increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases each day over the past month and a half, though the numbers are nowhere near the peak in July.
A seven-day average of nearly 6,300 new COVID-19 cases was reported Tuesday, according to Florida Department of Health statistics. That's up from early October, when the seven-day average for new cases was about 2,200. In mid July, the state reported a seven-day average of nearly 11,700 new cases.
A total of 897,323 people have contracted the virus in Florida, according to state records.
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The current seven-day average includes more than 10,000 new cases reported on Sunday, but officials have pointed to a large dump of test results that day — more than 146,000 — as an explanation for the dramatic rise in positive cases. Nevertheless, Florida's numbers had still be trending upward over the past 45 days. The state also tallied another 86 deaths on Tuesday. Since the start of the pandemic, 17,861 people in Florida have died from the virus.
The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in Florida hospitals has also risen in recent weeks. The state's online census of hospitals showed numbers hovering between 2,000 and 2,200 for most of last month, but on Tuesday, there were 3,369 coronavirus patients in hospitals.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)