3,449 new Florida coronavirus cases reported Friday; 94 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 3,449 Friday. According to the state's daily update, the total number of cases in Florida is now 748,437.

The number of Florida resident deaths has reached 15,830, an increase of 94 since Thursday's update. In addition, a total of 196 non-Floridians have died in the state.

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

Of the 748,437 cases, 739,050 are Florida residents while 9,387 are non-Florida residents currently in the state.

Bay Area COVID-19 cases by the numbers:

Hillsborough: 44,999
Pinellas: 23,746
Sarasota: 8,908
Manatee: 12,365
Sumter: 2,731
Polk: 21,572
Citrus: 3,000
Hernando: 3,385
Pasco: 10,089
Highlands: 2,416
DeSoto: 1,612
Hardee: 1,519

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 Friday, 2,103 Floridians were currently hospitalized for a primary diagnosis of COVID-19; in total, 46,862 have been hospitalized for treatment at some point.

A total of 5,680,917 residents have been tested in the state as of Friday -- about 26.5% of the state's population -- according to the Florida Department of Health.

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

Source: Fla. Dept. of Health

The number of new cases has generally trended down over the last few weeks, mirroring the number of tests being given. Gov. Ron DeSantis says that's good enough to move to Phase 3 of the reopening plan.

The rate of positive new tests has declined from its summertime peak, remaining below 10% for two months. It was at 4.38% on Thursday, the most recent date available.

After peaking in July, the number of deaths also began a downward trend in August that continued through September -- 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. Dept. 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. 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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Map of known COVID-19 cases:

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