A day after passing 100,000 positive cases for COVID-19, the Florida Department of Health reported nearly 3,300 more while the death toll rose to 3,237.
Tuesday’s update showed 3,289 reported infections since Monday for a total of 103,506.
The state also reported 64 new deaths including a four in Central Florida: an 82-year-old woman in Brevard, a 67-year-old man in Lake and two men in Orange County, ages 61 and 70. To be clear, those 64 deaths did not all happen on Monday, only reported since Monday. It has taken as much as two weeks for a coronavirus-related death to be reported by the state.
The state’s actual deadliest day remains May 4 with 59 fatalities, according to the Florida Department of Health. In April, the U.S. peaked at nearly 2,300 deaths in one day.
The region’s death toll stands at 276 with Polk County leading with 78 followed by Volusia’s 53, Orange’s 51, Oseola’s 23, Lake’s 21, Sumter and Brevard with 17 each and Seminole with 16.
To date, the state has performed 1,641,863 tests, up 23,323 since Sunday’s report. It has also seen 13,318 hospitalizations, 199 additional since Monday.
Reported infections were back over 3,000 after dropping below for the first time in four days on Monday. Saturday morning’s update reported the highest single-day total to date at more than 4,000.
The state reported Tuesday that about 10.9% of Sunday’s new patients were positive for COVID-19, climbing back over 10%, but shy of Friday’s rate of 12.4%, which has been the highest in recent weeks.
List of mobile coronavirus and antibody testing sites in Central Florida by county
South Florida reported 30 new deaths since Monday from its three hard-hit counties: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Combined they account for 1,755 deaths, which is nearly 54 percent of the state’s overall death toll.
The majority of deaths are from those ages 65 and older, but the state did report the first death of a minor with coronavirus on Saturday: a 17-year-old boy from Pasco County.
Central Florida now has 13,434 cases, an increase of 422 from a day earlier. There are 217 new cases in Orange for a total of 5,374; 38 in Polk for 2,263; 23 in Volusia for 1,286; 18 in Osceola for 1,098; 80 in Seminole for 1,441; 28 in Brevard for 906; 16 in Lake for 779; and two in Sumter for 288. (See details on all Central Florida cases here).
South Florida, home to 29% of Florida’s population, remains the hardest-hit region, accounting for 47% of cases with 48,859 total. That includes 350 new cases reported Tuesday among Miami-Dade (26,344), Broward (11,464), and Palm Beach (11,051) counties.
Nationwide, there are more than 2.3 million cases with over 120,000 deaths. Worldwide, there are more than 9.1 million cases, which is more than 1 in 1,000 people on the entire planet, and more than 472,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.
The U.S. has the most fatalities by far, followed by Brazil with over 51,000, the United Kingdom approaching 43,000, Italy with over 34,000, France with over 29,000, and Spain with over 28,000. Mexico with over 22,000 and India with more than 14,000 have become hot spots along with Brazil in the last month.
Within the U.S., New York has the most deaths with over 31,000, followed by New Jersey with nearly 13,000.
Florida now ranks 9th among U.S. states in fatalities, up one spot as of Sunday from 10th.
Click here for a timeline of how the coronavirus crisis grew in Central Florida.
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Local coronavirus victims: Their lives remembered
Pneumonia caused by COVID-19 killed both Pete and Eleanor Baker, retired snowbirds who were married nearly 62 years and spent winters in an RV in Central Florida.
Herman Boehm of Mount Dora, who enjoyed a life filled with adventures with his wife, died March 29 after contracting coronavirus. He was 86. Well into his 80s, Boehm enjoyed near-annual trips to Europe with his wife. Earlier in life, they spent a year cruising in the Bahamas on a sailboat. They went scuba diving and skiing. They danced the Argentine Tango.
A fiesty woman who witnessed World War II and 9/11 firsthand, Ada Ficarra’s story is one of survival, said her daughter Liz Starr. Born in the small town of Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Ficarra died April 26 at Sonata West, an assisted living facility in Winter Garden, where she had lived since 2018. She was 79.
See more Central Florida coronavirus obituaries here.
Symptoms? Do this
Are you feeling stressed or depressed from the COVID19 outbreak? There are resources available for you. You can contact the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or visit https://www.samhsa.gov/disaster-preparedness
How to protect yourself
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Stay home when you are sick and avoid contact with people in poor health.
Don’t touch your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then dispose of the tissue.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
Clean and disinfect touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
Follow these recommendations for using a face mask: The CDC now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social-distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. Follow these guidelines for using a cloth mask.
Questions? Here are numbers to call
The Florida Department of Health has set up a call center to answer questions about coronavirus. There’s a number for Orange County, too.
The Florida Department of Health’s number is 1-866-779-6121 and is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents may also email questions to [email protected].
In Orange County, the number to call is 407-723-5004; it’s available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For mental-health help, here is a list of resources.
For accurate, up-to-date information, visit
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov
The Florida Department of Health: floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/COVID-19. For questions, call the COVID-19 call center at 866-779-6121 or email [email protected].
A live map of COVID-19 cases around the globe: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
You want to be extra-prepared? Here’s how to stock up before a pandemic: ready.gov/pandemic
For the latest coronavirus updates, visit OrlandoSentinel.com/coronavirus and follow @orlandosentinel on Twitter.
See complete coverage at OrlandoSentinel.com/coronavirus.
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com.
