JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health reported another 73 deaths statewide related to coronavirus on Saturday -- a noticeably lower number than previous daily increases this week.
But of those, 18 -- just over 24% -- were reported among four Northeast Florida counties.
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According to the state report, Duval County added 11 deaths Saturday for a total of 428 since the pandemic began. About half of those deaths involved cases first counted by the state in July.
Alachua County added three deaths Saturday, and Flagler and Nassau counties added two deaths each.
Florida’s total for COVID-19 related deaths is now 14,803. Another 74 Florida resident deaths were reported Saturday, but the state removed one non-resident death from its data, meaning the state’s total increased by 73 from the previous day. The state did not explain why the non-resident death number went down by 1.
Florida reported another 2,811 cases of COVID-19 statewide on Saturday to bring the state’s total to 714,615 since the pandemic began.
The state also reported that Friday’s positivity rate for new cases was 4.79%. For 12 of the last 14 days, the state’s rate of positive COVID-19 tests has remained at or below 5% -- a key threshold watched by state leaders.
There were 2,037 people hospitalized with the virus as of Saturday afternoon.
In Duval County, 128 new COVID-19 cases were reported Saturday. There have now been a total of 30,915 cases in Jacksonville.
In Duval, Flagler and Alachua counties, the positivity rate was below 5% Friday.
As the summer coronavirus spike in Sunbelt states subsides, Florida has gone the furthest in lifting restrictions, especially on restaurants where the burden of ensuring safety has shifted to business owners and residents.
In his drive to return the state to normalcy, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has lifted limits on indoor seating at restaurants, saying they can operate at 100% in municipalities with no restrictions and that other local governments can’t restrict indoor seating by more than 50%.
Shutdowns and restrictions have battered Florida’s economy, leaving hundreds of thousands unemployed in the tourist-dependent state.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.