11,384 new Florida coronavirus cases reported Wednesday; 120 new deaths

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TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Department of Health says the number of known cases of COVID-19 in the state rose by 11,384 Wednesday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 1,234,399.

The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 20,874, an increase of 120 since Tuesday's update. In addition, a total of 299 non-Floridians have died in the state.

Locally, Citrus County reported 13 new deaths, Hillsborough reported eight, Pinellas reported seven, Pasco reported six, Hernando reported four, Manatee reported two, while Highlands, Polk, and Sumter each reported one.

Of the 1,234,399 cases, 1,213,760 are Florida residents while 20,639 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.

Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:

Hillsborough: 71,957
Pinellas: 41,654
Sarasota: 17,299
Manatee: 20,822
Sumter: 4,589
Polk: 34,349
Citrus: 6,176
Hernando: 6,762
Pasco: 20,164
Highlands: 4,686
DeSoto: 2,791
Hardee: 2,010

Florida new resident cases in orange; new resident deaths in gray. Note: Deaths usually appear to be trending down because of the delay in confirming the last few days of data. Source: Fla. Dept. of Health.

The state is not reporting a total number of "recovered" coronavirus patients. As of Wednesday, 5,590 Floridians were currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19; in total, 60,800 have been hospitalized for treatment at some point.

Vaccination efforts are ramping up across the state. Tuesday, 11,166 more residents received their initial vaccine dose, bringing the total to 68,133. No one has yet received their second and final dose.

LINK: County-by-county Florida coronavirus cases and ZIP code map

Source: Fla. Department of Health

The number of new cases had generally been trending down in the fall, mirroring the number of tests being given. But it has begun to increase again. The 13,148 new cases reported last Thursday was the highest single-day increase since July.

The rate of positive new tests has declined from its summertime peak, remaining below 10% for several months, but it has also begun to increase again. It was at 8.62% on Tuesday, the most recent date available.

After peaking in July, the number of deaths also began a downward trend in August that continued until November -- though "significant delays" in data reporting, as the state says, make interpreting short-term trends from that statistic less reliable.

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Source: Fla. Department of Health

PDF: DOH's full county-by-county COVID-19 case report

Editor's note: The number of new cases and deaths reported each day does not necessarily reflect the day that the case was confirmed. The state says some private testing labs dump large batches of test results which include cases from previous days, and data can take days or weeks to validate. Stats for today and previous days will likely change in the future as the state reviews more cases and updates retroactive data.

The state's number of deaths represents permanent Florida residents who have died from COVID-19.

MAP: Florida coronavirus cases by county

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If you feel sick:

The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions around the clock. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.

LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website

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