Florida reports 887 more COVID-19 deaths

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida’s COVID-19 death toll rose to 57,300 in the latest CDC data posted Tuesday, an increase of 887 from the day before.

Those deaths did not all happen in the past 24 hours and span back weeks. As has been the case for months, the state reports fatality data to the CDC that backdates deaths to the date when they occurred.

With the latest numbers added Tuesday, 349 COVID-related deaths have been reported thus far in October, and Florida’s September death toll has risen to more than 7,100 (an average of 239 per day).

More than 9,400 COVID deaths have been assigned to dates in August (303 per day), the worst month of the pandemic in Florida, the CDC metrics show.

The state is now up to 3,611,767 all-time COVID-19 cases (an increase of 2,124 since Monday) and 57,300 deaths connected to the virus.

While the statistics on deaths continue to lag behind, Florida continues to see a consistent drop in infections, hospitalizations and positivity rates since the peak of the summer surge in August.

Just over 3,300 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized across the state Monday, a total that hovered around 17,000 a couple of months earlier, according to the Florida Hospital Association.

As for infections, the state’s health department reported 25,792 new cases from Oct. 1-7, the lowest since the week that began July 2. (In August, more than 20,000 new cases were being reported per day.)

And Florida’s statewide new-case positivity rate last week was 4.8%, the lowest since mid-June.

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