Official COVID-19 death toll in Manatee County drops by one
The official COVID-19 death toll in Manatee County has dropped by one. As of Tuesday, the Florida Department of Health now says 629 people in Manatee have died from COVID-19.
The health department has refused to provide explanations since the start of the pandemic of why deaths are removed from official death tolls.
Across Florida on Tuesday, the deaths of 41 residents from COVID-19 were confirmed. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 32,820 residents and 629 non-residents who have died.
There were also 5,302 new coronavirus infections reported statewide. Infections in Florida now total 2,016,513.
Locally, there were 131 new coronavirus infections reported. In Manatee County, there have been 34,036 people who have contracted the virus.
Of tests processed for Manatee County residents on Monday, 8.9% of them were positive, according to the state health department.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been on the decline for the past several weeks, but there was an uptick on Tuesday Hospitalizations remain down about 30% compared to a month ago.
On Tuesday, there 2,932 people admitted to hospitals across the state with COVID-19 as a primary diagnosis or reason for admission, according to the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration.
In Manatee County, hospitalizations decreased on Tuesday with 33 patients admitted to local hospitals because of COVID-19. Local hospitalizations are down about 38% compared to a month ago.
The county’s three general hospitals had 51 available beds, including five ICU beds, according to AHCA which does not track whether beds are adequately staffed.
Meanwhile, there have been 106,452 people who have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 in Manatee County, according to the state health department. Among those, there have been 47,116 people who have been fully inoculated.
Statewide, there have been 5,057,939 people who have received at least a first dose, with 2,791,216 people fully inoculated.
Surrounding counties:
- Sarasota County cases increased from 28,515 to 28,592. The death toll dropped from 777 to 776.
- Desoto County cases increased from 3,985 to 3,997. The death toll remained 80.
- Hardee County case count remained 2,876. The death toll remained 37.
- Hillsborough County cases increased from 118,190 to 118,558. The death toll remained 1,582.
- Pinellas County cases increased from 70,382 to 70,580. The death toll rose from 1,526 to 1,529.
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 3:15 PM.
