Florida Hits Single-Day Coronavirus Death Record of 132 As Infections Near 300,000

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Florida recorded 132 deaths related to the coronavirus on July 13, the state Health Department said Tuesday, a one-day record for the state.

The figure comes after Florida set a one-day record for new infections on July 11, when 15,299 cases were confirmed. The state’s total number of residents confirmed positive for the coronavirus stood at 291,629 as of Tuesday, of which 4,409 had died and 151,854 — a little more than 50 percent — had recovered.

Monday’s numbers bring the state’s seven-day average for deaths linked to Covid-19 to 81 daily, the second-highest in the nation after Texas, though the virus has still been far less lethal for Floridians than for other Americans. Just 1.5 percent of residents who have contracted the virus have died as a result of complications stemming from it, compared to 4 percent nationally.

The figure may rise if patients continue filling hospitals, though Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has emphasized that new cases of the virus are predominantly being contracted by younger patients without underlying conditions. “The admissions [to] long-term care facilities are down from what they were,” DeSantis told reporters on Tuesday.

He added that he was advising elderly residents and those with underlying health conditions to “please take care,” especially by staying home, but said, “Obviously, I’m not going to arrest someone who’s 65 just because they leave their home.”

State data on Monday indicated 77 percent of Florida’s hospital beds were occupied, including 87 percent of its 5,023 intensive care units.

Dr. Lilian Abbo, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Miami, compared Miami to the Chinese city of Wuhan during a virtual press conference on Monday. “Miami is now the epicenter for the virus,” Abbo said.