NCH

State Health officials reported another record, Wednesday, for coronavirus-related deaths with 216 new fatalities. July 29 marked the first time the Florida Department of Health has reported a single-day death toll exceeding 200 deaths.So far this month, Florida has seen 2,783 reported deaths for a total of 6,457 fatalities. 2,836 of Florida's COVID-19 deaths, accounting for nearly 44% of Florida's overall death toll, have been among staff and residents of long-term care facilities.

Officials with the Lee Health and Naples Community Hospital healthcare systems both report a slight decrease Thursday in COVID-19 patient volumes. Lee Health’s four acute care hospitals are currently treating 296 COVID-19 positive patients, which is down from 310 patients Wednesday.

Despite Florida’s ongoing surge in new cases of the coronavirus, the Lee Health and Naples Community Hospital healthcare systems experienced a slight reduction over the weekend in the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in their acute care hospitals. Lee Health is currently treating 335 COVID-19 positive patients, which is 18 fewer than on Friday. NCH is currently treating 121 COVID-19 positive patients, which is 11 fewer than before the weekend.

Officials with the Lee Health and Naples Community Hospital healthcare systems report little change this week in hospital resource capacity and patient volumes as they continue battling the coronavirus pandemic.

A recent Florida Department of Health report shows many labs in the state reporting 100% positivity rates for COVID-19 tests, meaning that every test they report is positive for the virus or that they’re simply not reporting negative test results, but NCH Healthcare System and Lee Health officials say that’s not the case.

Thursday marked a single-day high for the number of coronavirus-related deaths in Florida. State Health officials reported 120 deaths July 9 for a statewide total of 4,111 fatalities.The Florida Department of Health added 8,935 new cases of COVID-19, Thursday, for a total of 232,718 cases. Thursday marked the 16th consecutive day of single-day increases of at least 5,000 cases.Of the 2,359,636 tests that have been performed in Florida so far, 9.86% have been positive for the virus. Thursday marked the 25th consecutive day that Florida's positivity rate has increased.

The current surge in COVID-19 cases is prompting local health officials to once again resume daily press briefings. As of Thursday morning, 87% of Lee Health’s ICU beds were full, and 60% of critical care beds were full at NCH hospitals.

State health officials reported 379 new cases of COVID-19 in Florida, Wednesday, for a total of 52,634 confirmed cases.As the nationwide death toll from COVID-19 hit the 100,000 mark, yesterday, the Florida Department of Health also reported 60 new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing Florida's death toll to 2,319 confirmed fatalities, including 1,089 deaths in long-term care facilities.The total number of virus-related hospitalizations in the state now stands at 9,639 patients.Of the 935,271 tests that have been performed in Florida so far, 5.6% have been positive for the virus.

The Florida Department of Health announced 220 new positive cases of COVID-19, Monday, and three new deaths bringing Florida's total number of cases to…