Florida sees uptick in COVID-19 cases as more than 6K new cases reported statewide

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida health officials reported an uptick in COVID-19 cases as more than 6,000 new cases were reported Thursday.

The total number of new coronavirus cases reported was 6,257. Of the new cases, 1,304 were reported in Central Florida.

READ: Health officials say Orange County COVID-19 testing is ‘skyrocketing’ as free rapid testing is set to arrive next week

To date, there have been 827,380 cases of coronavirus statewide.

The state also reported 39 coronavirus-related deaths Thursday. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths of both residents and nonresidents now stands at 17,170.

On Wednesday, the U.S. set a record with more than 100,000 new COVID-19 infections reported in a single day.

The country’s five highest days of coronavirus diagnoses have all been recorded since Oct. 29, including the 91,530 new infections confirmed Tuesday.

Health officials reported that 17 states set a record for COVID-19 hospitalizations. Those states include Kansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana and West Virginia.

READ: Coronavirus: US surpasses 100K single-day COVID-19 cases for 1st time since pandemic began

A White House Coronavirus Task Force report indicated that Florida is in the red zone for COVID-19, which is important because local decisions are data driven.

Orange County public safety director Danny Banks said the number of tests was “skyrocketing,” saying the number is three times what they have seen in the last few weeks.

Banks said the Orange County Convention Center will begin offering free rapid testing for antigens beginning Monday. Click here to read more about that.

An additional 37,814 negative test results noted in Thursday’s data brought the total number of negative tests to 5,487,519 in Florida since testing for the virus began earlier this year.

READ: Coronavirus: Third-grader’s ‘Jesus loves me’ face mask sparks lawsuit

See a county-by-county breakdown of total (and new) cases below, and click here for an interactive map of cases statewide:

• Orange: 48,015 (+360) - 567 (+6)
• Osceola: 14,767 (+123) - 210 (-1)
• Seminole: 10,725 (+80) - 245 (0)
• Polk: 23,763 (+151) - 635 (+2)
• Volusia: 13,360 (+78) - 326 (0)
• Brevard: 12,318 (+123) - 384 (0)
• Flagler: 2,248 (+23) - 40 (0)
• Lake: 9,047 (+100) - 234 (+2)
• Marion: 11,160 (+71) - 352 (+2)
• Sumter: 3,026 (+17) - 87 (0)

READ: ‘We need to follow the science’: Florida doctors push for statewide mask mandate as another possible COVID-19 surge looms

Video: Health officials say Orange County COVID-19 cases are ‘skyrocketing’ as free rapid testing is set to arrive next week 12 p.m.: Free rapid COVID-19 testing is coming to Orange County as the county has seen a spike in new cases.

Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Coronavirus cases in Florida

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