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Florida Passes 700,000 Coronavirus Cases

Florida Dept. of Health COVID-19 dashboard
Florida Department of Health
On Sunday, Florida became the third state to surpass 700,000 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

While Florida surpassed the 700,000 mark for COVID-19 cases, no deaths were recorded in the greater Tampa Bay region for the second Sunday in a row.

The Florida Department of Health reported Sunday that 1,882 people tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 700,564.

Florida is the third state to top 700,000 cases after California (808,342 cases as of Sunday), and Texas (754,316).

The state also recorded 12 deaths due to complications from COVID-19 since Saturday's report, bringing the statewide death toll to 14,202. No deaths were recorded in the greater Tampa Bay region.

Numbers reported on Sundays are regularly lower than the rest of the week. On Sept. 20, the state reported nine deaths, with none in the greater Tampa Bay region; on Sept. 13, those numbers were eight and one, respectively.

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

Saturday’s report also included 333 new positive tests in the greater Tampa Bay region.

Of the 49,545 tests returned statewide Saturday, 4.08 percent of those tested for the first time were positive. It was the fourth consecutive day and fourteen out of sixteen where the positivity rate fell below five percent.

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, September 27:

  • Hillsborough: 41,826
  • Pinellas: 22,004
  • Polk: 19,849
  • Manatee: 11,458
  • Pasco: 9,204
  • Sarasota: 8,142
  • Hernando: 3,126

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

  • Sept. 27: 1,882/12
  • Sept. 26: 2,795/107
  • Sept. 25: 2,847/122
  • Sept. 24: 2,541/179
  • Sept. 23: 2,590/203
  • Sept. 22: 2,470/99
  • Sept. 21: 1,685/21
  • Sept. 20: 2,521/9
  • Sept. 19: 3,573/63
  • Sept. 18: 3,204/140
  • Sept. 17: 3,255/147
  • Sept. 16: 2,355/154
  • Sept. 15: 3,116/146
  • Sept. 14: 1,736/36
NOTE: The Florida Department of Health discontinued daily coronvirus updates on June 4, 2021.

Mark Schreiner is the assistant news director and intern coordinator for WUSF News.
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