JACKSONVILLE, Fla — (Note: The video above was originally published on Feb. 17, 2021)
The Florida Department of Health's cumulative death toll from the start of the coronavirus pandemic officially surpassed 30,000 in Friday's daily report, while Duval County recorded 12 more deaths.
The state added 224 more deaths, 218 of them among Florida residents, lifting the overall toll to 30,214.
In the six-county Northeast Florida region, the death toll rose by 17 — counting two deaths each in Clay and St. Johns counties and one in Putnam County — for a new total of 1,837.
As in the decreasing phase of the summer surge, death counts have remained high even as the number of new cases reported each day has diminished from the peak in early January, when Florida regularly added more than 15,000 cases in each daily report.
The state added 6,683 positive tests in Friday's report, for a cumulative total of 1,856,427. Duval County added 243, with 45 in Clay County, 22 in St. Johns County, 13 in Nassau County, eight in Putnam County and five in Baker County.
The Florida Department of Health's COVID-19 positivity rate decreased to 7.43 percent in laboratory results received Thursday, the state's lowest level since falling to 7.09 percent on Feb. 4.
New-case positivity in Duval County continued its decreasing trend, reaching 4.11 percent in Thursday's laboratory results for the county's lowest level since Oct. 27. Clay County increased slightly to 5.40 percent and Putnam County jumped to 5.76 percent, while Baker County (9.43 percent, with a sample size of fewer than 60), Nassau County (3.74 percent) and St. Johns County (5.16 percent) recorded decreases.
The Agency for Health Care Administration also reported continuing decreases in hospitalizations for the novel coronavirus across Florida, dropping to 4,298 as of 2:45 p.m. Friday — the fewest current hospitalizations on record for the state since Dec. 2. At one stage in January, the AHCA was reporting more than 7,500 patients in Florida hospitals with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19.
Duval County reported 222 current hospitalizations, with four in Baker County, 38 in Clay County, seven each in Nassau and St. Johns counties and four in Putnam County.
Here's a breakdown of the latest numbers in Florida:
STATEWIDE
Cases: 1,856,427
Current hospitalizations: 4,298
Total hospitalizations: 77,408
Resident deaths: 29,692
AREA CASES
Duval: 87,272
Baker: 3,252
Clay: 16,462
Nassau: 7,547
Putnam: 5,757
St. Johns: 19,727
AREA DEATHS
Duval: 1,075
Baker: 54
Clay: 297
Nassau: 107
Putnam: 120
St. Johns: 184
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