COVID update for Thursday: One Manatee County resident dead and 85 new infections
A Manatee County resident is among the 50 people reported dead on Thursday from COVID-19 in Florida.
Locally, 679 residents have died from the fatal respiratory disease, according to official death tolls from the Florida Department of Health. The deaths of 47 residents and three non-residents in the state were reported on Thursday. Since the start of the pandemic, 35,929 residents and 719 non-residents have died.
The state health department also reported 4,064 new infections of the coronavirus across the state. Positive cases now total 2,282,613 in Florida.
In Manatee County, 85 new infections were reported on Thursday. A total of 39,110 people have contracted the virus in the county.
Hospitalizations
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to decline in Florida, down 8% compared to a week ago, according to the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration. On Thursday, 2,684 people were admitted to hospitals across the state with COVID-19 as a primary diagnosis or reason for admission.
In Manatee County, hospitalizations have decreased 10% compared to a week ago. Local hospitals had 25 people admitted because of COVID-19 on Thursday.
The county’s three general hospitals, Blake Medical Center, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center and Manatee Memorial Hospital, had 62 available beds on Thursday, including 11 ICU beds.
Positivity rates
Test results processed by the state health department on Thursday had a 4.3% positivity rate in Manatee County, down from 4.6% the previous day, according to the department’s daily COVID-19 county-by-county report. Wednesday’s processed results included 89 local residents who tested positive and who were a median age of 30 years old.
Statewide, the daily positivity rate of test results among residents processed on Wednesday was 4.4%, a slight decrease compared to 4.5% the previous day.
Vaccination efforts
As of Thursday morning, 44% of Manatee County residents have received at least the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state health department’s daily vaccine reports. Almost 35% of residents are fully vaccinated. Thirty-five percent of the county’s residents have been fully vaccinated.
Across Florida, 9,436,587 people have received at least a first dose of a vaccine, while 7,327,823 people have been fully vaccinated.
Surrounding counties
- Sarasota County cases increased from 33,057 to 33,104. The death toll rose from 825 to 827.
- Desoto County cases increased from 4,357 to 4,360. The death toll remained at 93.
- Hardee County cases increased from 3,180 to 3,187. The death toll remained at 44.
- Hillsborough County cases increased from 138,931 to 139,297. The death toll rose from 1,747 to 1,751.
- Pinellas County cases increased from 80,142 to 80,271. The death dropped from 1,639 to 1,638.
