JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As health experts predicted, the number of people dying from complications of coronavirus continues to be high even as Florida’s daily number of new cases is trending down.
A dozen of the 183 deaths the Department of Health reported Tuesday were from Northeast Florida counties. And the number of new cases reported in the state remained under 3,000 for the third day in a row and remain a fraction of the daily increases Florida was experiencing one month ago.
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The Department of Health reported 2,573 new cases of COVID-19 in the state Tuesday. The state’s daily total peaked July 15 when more than 15,000 cases were reported, but has been declining ever since. It is now back to daily increases the state was seeing in mid-June.
There were only 74 new cases in Jacksonville -- the lowest daily number since June 15 -- but eight additional deaths were reported. Clay County reported 44 new cases but two more deaths. St. Johns County had a 37 new cases. Nassau County reported 10 new cases Tuesday and one additional death. Bradford County had only three additional cases but one death.
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have also been declining, dropping by almost 1,000 statewide in the last week. Hospitalizations peaked July 23 at above 9,500.
The state’s positively rate on tests returned Monday increased to 7.49% but had averaged 6.68% last week and 9.33% the week before that.
Overall, the state has now reported 605,502 confirmed cases. The state has reported 10,717 deaths since the pandemic began appearing in Florida at the beginning of March. Last week the state has reported an average death rate of 125 per day and an average of 151 deaths per day during August. Only Texas, at 203 deaths, has a higher daily average over the past week. It has about 50% more residents.
Deaths from COVID-19 usually occur two weeks or more after diagnosis, so epidemiologists have said Florida’s fatality rate should shrink in the coming weeks if confirmed infections continue to shrink.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.