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News about coronavirus in Florida and around the world is constantly emerging. It's hard to stay on top of it all but Health News Florida can help. Our responsibility is to keep you informed, and to help discern what’s important for your family as you make what could be life-saving decisions.

Florida Surpasses 15,000 COVID-19 Deaths As Positivity Rate Declines

The Florida Department of Health recorded the deaths of 139 people since Tuesday's report, bringing the overall death toll to 15,084. That includes 28 deaths in the greater Tampa Bay region.
Florida Department of Health
The Florida Department of Health recorded the deaths of 139 people since Tuesday's report, bringing the overall death toll to 15,084. That includes 28 deaths in the greater Tampa Bay region.

The number of Florida deaths due to complications from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic has surpassed 15,000.

The Florida Department of Health recorded 139 deaths since Tuesday, bringing the overall death toll to 15,084. It's the most deaths reported in a day since Sept. 30.

That includes the deaths of 28 people in the greater Tampa Bay region — the highest single-day total since Sept. 15.

Polk County reported 10 deaths, while Hillsborough and Pinellas counties reported six deaths each. Sarasota and Hernando Counties reported three deaths each.

The deaths were recorded by the state since Tuesday's report, but may have occurred days or weeks earlier.

The state also reported 2,582 people tested positive for the coronavirus since Tuesday. That brings the total number of cases statewide to 722,707.

In the greater Tampa Bay region, the state reported 461 new cases.

The state received results from 66,274 tests Tuesday, with the positivity rate for those who were tested for the first time at 4.15%.

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 Wednesday, Oct. 7:

  • Hillsborough: 43,304
  • Pinellas: 22,697
  • Polk: 20,687
  • Manatee: 11,878
  • Pasco: 9,569
  • Sarasota: 8,457
  • Hernando: 3,277


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

  • Oct. 7: 2,582/139
  • Oct. 6: 2,251/59
  • Oct. 5: 1,415/41
  • Oct. 4: 1,868/43
  • Oct. 3: 2,787/74
  • Oct. 2: 2,660/111
  • Oct. 1: 2,628/131
  • Sept. 30: 1,948/175
  • Sept. 29: 3,266/106
  • Sept. 28: 738/5
  • Sept. 27: 1,882/12
  • Sept. 26: 2,795/107
  • Sept. 25: 2,847/122
  • Sept. 24: 2,541/179

Copyright 2020 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7

Mark Schreiner has been the producer and reporter for "University Beat" on WUSF 89.7 FM since 2001 and on WUSF TV from 2007-2017.