Florida records another 12,478 COVID-19 cases and 89 new deaths

UK suspends extradition arrangements with Hong Kong

By Susannah Bryan 
 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Florida's coronavirus cases continued to soar Sunday, with the state reporting another 12,478 cases.
 The state and national record for one day is 15,300 cases, reported July 12.
 At least 350,047 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, the Florida Department of Health said.
 The state recorded 89 new deaths Sunday morning in its latest coronavirus pandemic data report.
 A total of 5,091 people have died from the virus in Florida, reports show. That figure includes 109 people from outside the state.
 The COVID-19 death toll in Florida topped 5,000 people on Saturday.
 The state also reported that 20,971 Florida residents have been hospitalized since the start of the pandemic. That's 339 more people than the state reported on Saturday.
 Gov. Ron DeSantis has complained that headlines about the coronavirus record are unfairly terrifying people because the news lacks the "appropriate context and perspective."
 During a news conference Saturday at Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine, DeSantis said the public needs to know that one main reason for the record cases was due to the state receiving 143,000 test COVID-19 test results that day. That day's percentage of positive tests _ indicating the prevalence of the disease _ was higher than desired at 14%, he noted.
 "It's important to put that in context because I think a lot of people see cases I think they get really, really scared, and my message is fear is our enemy," DeSantis said. "And I think the other thing that gets missed with the cases is the sheer number of people who are testing who aren't sick. Because I think most people see cases and they think that many people are in the hospital."
 SOUTH FLORIDA
 South Florida, which accounts for 29% of Florida's population, reported 5,102 new cases in the past day, or 41% of the daily total for the state, according to the state Department of Health.
 Broward County: 1,150 new coronavirus cases were reported Sunday, bringing the total to 39,281. A total of 517 people have died, six more since Saturday.
 Palm Beach County: 740 new cases were reported, bringing the total to 25,785. A total of 693 people have died, 13 more since Saturday.
 Miami-Dade County: 3,212 new cases, bringing the total to 84,238. A total of 1,318 people have died. That's 29 more than the toll reported on Saturday.
 TESTING AND THE POSITIVITY RATE
 Florida says it has tested more than 3 million people since the pandemic began, and 11.64% have been positive.
 That's the third-highest number of COVID-19 tests in the nation, behind California and New York. Those states also are ahead of Florida in confirmed cases.
 Florida on Sunday reported an 11.85% positivity rate for tests statewide in the previous 24-hour period, down from Saturday's 12.2%.
 It was 20.5% for Miami-Dade County, 12.8% for Broward, and 11.4% for Palm Beach.
 In May, Florida's positivity rate was around 5% for COVID-19 testing.
 DEATHS
 Statewide: The official COVID-19 death total for Florida stood at 5,091 on Sunday. That figure includes 109 non-residents. The three big South Florida counties have had 2,528 total deaths, which is 49.6% of the statewide total.
 Nationwide: Florida's death rate is hovering in the middle when you consider deaths per 100,000 people around the country. According to the COVID Data Tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida has recorded 22.6 deaths per 100,000 people.
 Based on the same scale, California has had 18.9 deaths and Texas has had 13 deaths per 100,000 people, the Data Tracker shows. The death toll is much higher in New York City with 278.5 deaths for 100,000; New Jersey with 176.1 deaths per 100,000; Massachusetts with 121.7 deaths per 100,000; and Louisiana at 75.3 deaths per 100,000.
 Senior care: At least 2,370 deaths have occurred in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, a figure that represents 46.6% of the state's total for coronavirus deaths of residents. Miami-Dade County has the highest number of long-term care facility deaths, with 575, or 24% of the total. Palm Beach County had 280 deaths, or 12%, and Broward accounted for 175 deaths or 7%.
 HOSPITALIZATIONS
 The number of people being treated for COVID-19 at hospitals increased by 219 on Sunday, according to the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration. The total is 9,351 patients statewide as of 1 p.m. About 24 hours earlier, the same report listed 9,132 patients.
 Miami-Dade County has the most people hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of the new coronavirus: 2,008, an increase of 39 since Saturday. Next is Broward with 1,240, another 17 since Saturday. Palm Beach County has 606 people who were admitted to hospitals to treat the disease, an increase of 22 from the previous day.
 The state also reported that 20,971 Florida residents have been hospitalized since the start of the pandemic.
 GLOBAL VIEW
 U.S.: The coronavirus death toll in the United States reached 140,131 as of 10:35 a.m. Sunday, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.
 The United States reported more than 3.7 million cases, the highest total in the world.
 Death tolls are the highest in New York State, with 32,478, and New Jersey, with 15,699. Most of those fatalities occurred in the first few months of the pandemic. New York and New Jersey each both reported an additional 15 deaths.
 Worldwide: The global total reached 14.3 million cases Sunday, with at least 602,886 deaths, Johns Hopkins reported.
 The U.S. has 4.3% of the world's population and 26% of the world's cases.
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