COVID-19 in Florida: What you need to know Friday, Aug. 21

The Florida Department of Health verified 119 additional COVID-19 deaths and 4,684 new cases Friday.

The reported death toll for Florida residents since the pandemic began is now at 10,168.

This marks the 16th day this month that at least 100 deaths have been reported. In August, 3,206 Florida residents have been verified as having died of COVID-19 complications, just 132 fewer than the total for the entire month of July (3,338).

The seven-day average for reported COVID-19 deaths in Florida declined to 162 Thursday. 

On Thursday, the cumulative number of cases in Florida increased to 588,602. Cases increased for the third consecutive day, but Thursday still marked the fifth straight day the state reported fewer than 5,000 new cases. That hasn't occurred since June 19-23. 

Florida's seven-day average for new cases dropped to 4,495 Thursday, the lowest since June 25. However, the state's cumulative positivity rate for overall tests increased slightly to 13.56%. 

That's because Florida's recent testing slowdown continued. The state's seven-day average for new test was 69,232 through Wednesday. That's about 30,000 fewer daily tests than the state was reporting on average during the last week of July.

The number of Florida residents hospitalized with COVID-19 is 35,650 since the pandemic began. The Department of Health notes the total figure is cumulative and does not reflect the number of COVID-19 patients currently in hospitals.

Here's a breakdown of the latest numbers in Florida:

Overview

• Total cases: 588,602
• Deaths of Florida residents: 10,049
• Hospitalizations: 35,650

Testing

• Total tests: 4,342,418
• Positive: 588,602
• Negative: 3,747,150
• % positive: 13.56%
• Inconclusive: 6,666
• Awaiting testing: 3,604

Deaths in long-term care facilities

• Total: 4,232

Top 5 cities with confirmed cases

• Miami: 88,366
• Orlando: 25,523
• Jacksonville: 23,201
• Hialeah: 21,296
• Tampa: 21,022

Want more COVID-19 news? If you're already a subscriber, thank you! If not, please subscribe and help keep your news coming.