154 more COVID-19 deaths in Florida as vaccinations reach half of state’s senior citizens

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As Gov. Ron DeSantis reported that half of the senior citizens in Florida have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination, the Flordia Department of Health reported another 5,610 cases of coronavirus on Tuesday and added 154 people to the list of residents and visitors who have died with the disease.

Since the first case was confirmed in the state last March, there have been 1,878,533 people infected with the virus, 78,212 hospitalizations and 30,213 deaths.

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While the average of new cases has dropped below 5,800 from nearly 18,000 in early January, the daily increase in cases remains higher than it was from mid-August until just before Thanksgiving.

Florida and Duval County daily COVID-19 cases since June 1

Twenty of the additional deaths reported Tuesday were in Northeast Florida: 11 in Duval County, two each in Alachua, Baker, Bradford and Nassau counties and one in Putnam County.

About 4,100 Floridians were hospitalized Tuesday with the disease, down from 6,100 on Feb. 1. The daily number of deaths remains just above 160, but that is down from 190 a day a month ago.

“You are going to see some positive trends because of these vaccines,’' DeSantis said during a news conference Friday at a Hialeah pharmacy. “We are trying to get the vaccine to the people it will have the most impact for.”