Florida's COVID-19 death toll continues to climb

Stream FOX 35 News:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The number of Florida residents who have died of COVID-19 since early 2020 is nearing 91,000. 

As of Thursday, 90,740 resident deaths from COVID-19 had been reported, according to Florida Department of Health data released Friday. That was up from 90,232 reported deaths two weeks earlier. 

Because of lags in reporting, it is unclear when the additional deaths occurred. The Department of Health releases COVID-19 data every two weeks. 

The new data said 70,533 deaths, or nearly 78%, involved people aged 65 or older. Also, 77,371 deaths, or about 85%, involved people 60 or older. The data also indicated that reported numbers of new COVID-19 cases decreased during the past two weeks after steadily increasing this summer. 

The Department of Health said 19,019 cases were reported during the week that started Sept. 1, and 15,690 cases were reported during the week that started Sept. 8. That was down from 23,978 cases during the week that started Aug. 25.