Florida health officials report 189 additional COVID-19 related deaths

August 8, 2020 steven

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health on Saturday reported 8,502 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in Florida to 526,577.

The number is a running total since the virus was first detected in Florida in March.

While the reporting of coronavirus deaths are delayed by days and sometimes weeks, state and public health leaders say an additional 189 people have recently died from the virus. Their deaths raise the overall count to 8,238 that number includes 129 non-residents who died in Florida.

[MORE: More than 19,000 Floridians projected to die from COVID-19 by December, experts say]

On Saturday, the positivity rate for the number of people who tested positive for the first time, compared to the overall tests, fell to 9.91%. Health officials agree the rate should be below 10% to show infections are decreasing.

Across the state, 6,930 people are currently hospitalized with severe cases of the virus, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration’s report.

The FDOH’s coronavirus dashboard reveals 30,251 people have been hospitalized due to complications with COVID-19 since March, an increase of 521 patients since the last time the state released the total 24 hours ago.

News 6 speaks one-on-one with Gov. Ron DeSantis

In a one-on-one interview Friday with News 6 anchor Matt Austin, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that school districts have a legal requirement to offer in-person instruction this fall despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The governor was responding to the decision in Hillsborough County to start the school year virtually for all students and then possibly consider in-person learning in September if infection numbers have dropped.

[MORE: ‘I’m concerned about it:’ DeSantis says Hillsborough County schools should reopen]

“The law requires you to offer certain amount of in-person instruction,” DeSantis said about the decision in Hillsborough to balk at the state order. “I’m concerned about it.”

DeSantis argued that not opening for in-person learning was not “the right decision” for school districts in areas other than Miami-Dade or Broward counties, where the majority of cases in the state have been reported.

To hear the full interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis, click or tap here.

Parents of Central Florida students can find everything they need to know about their district’s back-to-school plan at ClickOrlando.com/backtoschool.

Here’s a breakdown of COVID-19 cases in Central Florida:

County	Cases	New cases	Hospitalizations	New Hospitalizations	Deaths	New Deaths
Brevard	5,851	112	465	11	142	2
Flagler	1,052	63	87	2	13	0
Lake	5,073	115	273	4	67	6
Marion	6,260	276	484	3	89	3
Orange	31,395	369	940	19	297	10
Osceola	9,568	167	419	8	104	4
Polk	14,124	285	1,393	29	312	8
Seminole	7,048	72	451	4	118	8
Sumter	1,284	47	176	0	41	0
Volusia	7,779	125	571	6	131	5