Three COVID-19 deaths Friday brings Escambia County deaths to 101

Three more COVID-19 deaths were recorded in Escambia County on Friday, pushing the total to 101 deaths since the pandemic began and 21 in the last six days.

A 57-year-old man, a 67-year-old man and an 84-year-old man were among the deaths recorded in Florida on Friday. The state recorded a fourth day of record number of deaths on Friday with 257 verified deaths.

Locally, the number of new positive cases has slowed a bit compared to last week, with 140 new cases reported in Escambia County, for a cumulative total of 7,738. Santa Rosa County increased by 57 new cases, for a cumulative total of 3,336.

All state-run testing sites were suspended Wednesday in advance of Hurricane Isaias, which is expected to decrease positive test numbers in the days to come. UWF's testing site and the Publix site on Ninth Avenue and Bayou Boulevard were allowed to reopen Friday.

Santa Rosa County recorded three deaths this week and no new deaths on Friday. To date, 22 people have died in Santa Rosa County.

The media age of deaths in Santa Rosa County is 39, while it is 38 in Escambia County.

As of Friday, 12% of the 64,035 peopled tested in Escambia County and 13% of the 25,727 people tested in Santa Rosa County have been positive for COVID-19.

Hospitalizations in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties

On Thursday, 237 patients with COVID-19 were currently being treated in Escambia County hospitals. That's according to figures from Ascension Sacred Heart, Baptist and West Florida hospitals reported to Escambia County and the city of Pensacola. Friday figures are not yet available.

The state reported Friday that Escambia County's cumulative hospitalizations — how many COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized since the start of the pandemic — was 435, an increase of 18 from the previous day.

The number of currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Santa Rosa County is not being compiled. Data from the Florida Department of Health shows a cumulative total of 160 people with COVID-19 have been hospitalized in Santa Rosa County since the pandemic began, an increase of just one from the previous day.

Escambia County on Friday morning had 337 available hospital beds, and Santa Rosa County had 191, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.

Fourteen of the 141 adult ICU beds in Escambia County were available, and eight of Santa Rosa County's 13 adult ICU beds were open.

Florida has fourth day of record deaths

For the fourth consecutive day, the Florida Department of Health reported a new daily record for COVID-19 deaths, verifying 257 Friday. 

Wednesday marked the first time deaths have surpassed 200 in the state since the pandemic began. The death toll among Florida residents now stands at 6,843. 

In July, the state verified 3,338 deaths of residents related to COVID-19. That's an average of nearly 108 per day or 4.5 per hour for the month. Entering July, Florida had reported a total of 3,550 COVID-19 deaths from March through June.

The state's seven-day average for reported deaths increased to a record-high of 170 Friday, more than four times the average on June 30 (38.1).

The number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 9,007 Friday, marking the 38th consecutive day the state has recorded more than 5,000 new cases. However, the state has recorded six straight days with fewer than 10,000 new cases, the first time that's happened since June 26-July 1.

Florida has counted a total of 470,386 cases since the pandemic began.

The number of Florida residents hospitalized with COVID-19 increased to 26,533 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.

Breaking down cases in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties *

Pensacola: 6,059 cases

Cantonment: 575 cases

Bellview: 10 cases

Perdido Key: 4 cases

Century: 59 cases

Molino: 87 cases

McDavid: 39 cases

Walnut Hill: 9 cases

Pensacola Beach: 6 cases

Gonzalez: 7 cases

Navarre: 391 cases

Milton: 1,870  cases

Gulf Breeze: 491 cases

Pace: 242 cases

Jay: 87 cases

Bagdad: 7 cases

Pensacola Naval Hospital: 1 case

Non-Florida resident: 845 cases

Missing: 285 cases

* The Florida Department of Health is releasing the locations where confirmed cases are located to provide a broader look at areas where the virus has spread. The locations are based on ZIP code.