5 COVID-19 deaths in Northeast Florida among 107 reported statewide

New coronavirus cases in Florida plunge

FILE - In this July 17, 2020, file photo, a health care worker sanitizes her equipment while working at a walk-up COVID-19 testing site during the coronavirus pandemic in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) (Lynne Sladky, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health on Sunday reported 107 additional coronavirus-related deaths, including five in Northeast Florida.

The number of deaths reported Sunday was about half of the totals from each of the past two days.

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The death of a 71-year-old man was recorded Sunday in Duval County, where there have now been 222 deaths. St. Johns County has recorded 46 deaths, including the deaths of a 96-year-old woman and a 94-year-old woman that were reported Sunday. And in Putnam County, the deaths of a 79-year-old man and an 86-year-old woman were reported Sunday for a county total of 33 deaths.

There have been a total of 9,587 deaths reported in Florida since the pandemic’s first recorded appearance in the state on March 1.

On Sunday, the state Department of Health reported 3,779 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 573,416. Sunday was the first day since June 23 that Florida reported a daily increase of fewer than 4,000 cases.

The dip brought down the daily average of new infections to a little more than 5,800 a day over the past week. The average number of deaths over the same period was slightly more than 180 deaths a day.

Hospitalizations generally held steady, with nearly 5,700 people being treated for the virus.

The lower numbers come just days before Florida voters cast ballots Tuesday in primaries across the state for congressional, legislative and other seats. More than 2.3 million people have opted to vote early, instead of braving lines and the risk of infection.

Election officials have urged voters to avoid the trip to precincts on Election Day by casting ballots early, including mailing in their completed ballots. Officials, however, have assured voters who decide to show up a the polls on Tuesday that doing so will be safe.

It remained to be seen how the pandemic will affect the election on Tuesday and in November, when Florida again plays a crucial role in the presidential race.

It also remained to be seen how lasting the dips in deaths and new cases will be — considering how unpredictable the outbreak has been since its start five months ago.

Still, the new cases announced Sunday by the Florida Health Department continued a steady decline from last month, when the one-day total of newly reported cases surged to 15,300 cases on July 12.

Daily COVID-19 cases reported in Florida and Duval County

The statewide positivity rate for testing ticked up slightly to 7.8% on Saturday.

The daily reports from state officials provide a snapshot of the virus, but there is sometimes a lag time in which deaths and new cases and deaths are reported to state officials.

Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, breathing trouble, sore throat, muscle pain, and loss of taste or smell. Most people develop only mild symptoms. But some people, usually those with other medical complications, develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia.