Florida COVID-19 deaths near 77K as inpatient numbers dip
TITUSVILLE, Fla. - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released data Friday that showed 4,341 Florida hospital inpatients had COVID-19, down from 4,430 in a Thursday count.
The data also showed that 412 patients with COVID-19 were in intensive-care units, down from 428 on Thursday. The numbers of inpatients with COVID-19 have increased in recent months as subvariants of the coronavirus have spread.
Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Health on Friday released a report that showed at least 76,662 Florida residents have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic started in early 2020. The total, which reflected deaths reported as of Thursday, was up from 75,096 in a report issued in mid-June.
It is not clear when the additional deaths occurred because of lags in reporting. Data released Friday by the department also showed that the number of new reported cases of COVID-19 increased to 78,245 during the week of July 8 through Thursday.
That was up from 67,800 reported cases the previous week. Florida has topped 60,000 new cases in nine straight weeks and has topped 70,000 in six of the weeks, according to the Department of Health numbers. That has come as subvariants of the coronavirus have spread in the state.