Florida reports 213 more coronavirus-related deaths, almost 9K new cases since yesterday

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health has released its latest data for COVID-19; the numbers point to a drop in single day deaths but a rise in day-to-day coronavirus cases.

On Wednesday, the state reported 213 additional deaths linked to illness from the virus. That’s down from a record-breaking 277 deaths cited in Tuesday’s data.

Health officials say Florida’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic stands at 8,898.

Read: Seminole County Public Schools passes face covering mandate for all students, staff members, contractors while on school property

Of the 213 deaths reported by the state on Wednesday, 45 involved Central Florida residents, including 10 in Orange County, eight in Polk County, seven in Seminole County, six each in Volusia and Lake counties, three in Brevard County, two each in Marion and Sumter counties and one in Osceola County.

Florida added another 8,109 positive tests for COVID-19, according to Wednesday’s figures from the state.

That’s an increase of nearly 2,300 from the number of new cases reported on Tuesday.

The state’s positive test results total 550,901 since testing began earlier this year.

The number of negative coronavirus tests recorded by state health officials to date is 3,536,678.

The Florida Department of Health said it received a backlog of testing data from a lab in Miami that dated back to June 23.

Health officials said the lab reported more than 4,000 COVID-19 cases over the past seven weeks but they had not been reported to the health department until Wednesday.

Officials said they have reached out to the lab and are investigating the backlog.

(2/2)Therefore, this backlog severely skews today’s daily report for Miami-Dade & is not reflective of current trends. Once DOH was informed of this testing data backlog, we immediately reached out to Niznik Lab & we are investigating the matter, along with Miami-Dade leadership.
— Florida Dept. Health (@HealthyFla) August 12, 2020