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Florida Passes 600,000 Mark In Positive COVID-19 Cases

WUSF

Published August 23, 2020 at 4:27 PM EDT

The number of cases of coronavirus in Florida surpassed 600,000 on Sunday, an increase of 100,000 in just over two weeks.

A total of 2,974 of the 61,686 tests the Florida Department of Health reported Sunday were positive. It was August 5 when the state reported that the number of cases of COVID-19 passed the half million mark.

Only the state of California has passed the milestone of 600,000 cases.

It also came one day after the state saw its rate of daily positive cases fall below 5% for the first time in months. Sunday’s state report showed that 5.52% of those tested for the first time, tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organization recommends that states maintain a positivity rate of 5% or less for 14 consecutive days before reopening.

The Department of Health also reported Sunday the deaths of 51 more people, bring the total number of lives lost so far to 10,462. While reported Sunday, those deaths may have happened days or weeks earlier, according to the health department.

In the greater Tampa Bay region, the state increased the number of cases by 490, and added five more deaths. That included four deaths in Pinellas County, and one in Hillsborough.

ABOUT THE DATA:

The Florida Department of Health produces a daily update around 11 a.m. with information about COVID-19 cases and deaths that were reported over the previous 24 hours. Cases and deaths in the report may have happened days or weeks earlier, according to state officials. The state separately tracks cases and deaths that occurred on specific days on its dashboard and those totals are frequently updated.

Greater Tampa Bay region positive tests as of Sunday, August 23:

Hillsborough: 35,721
Pinellas: 19,431
Polk: 16,251
Manatee: 10,170
Pasco: 7,758
Sarasota: 7,021
Hernando: 2,441

Florida COVID-19 daily total of positive tests/deaths for the last two weeks:

August 23: 2,974/51
August 22: 4,311/107
August 21: 4,684 /118
August 20: 4,555 /117
August 19: 4,115 /174
August 18: 3,838 /219
August 17: 2,678 /87
August 16: 3,779 /107
August 15: 6,352 /204
August 14: 6,148 /228
August 13: 6,236 /148
August 12: 8,109 /212
August 11: 5,831/276
August 10: 4,155/91

Florida Passes 600,000 Mark In Positive COVID-19 Cases

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