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Florida Death Toll From COVID-19 Passes 12K Milestone

CDC
This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). (Photo provided by the CDC / Alissa Eckert, MS, Dan Higgins, MAMS)

TALLAHASSEE - Florida has now surpassed 12,000 deaths linked to the coronavirus, according to data released by state health officials on Sunday. The milestone was reached after the state added 38 more people to the grim tally.

With more than 2,500 new cases reported Sunday, Florida has recorded more than 646,000 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic six months ago. Nearly 3,200 infected people were being treated in hospitals for the virus.

The new deaths pushed the state's death toll to 12,001, with the average number of deaths over the past week at about 105 per day.

The Florida Health Department said it had received more than 56,000 test results on Saturday, with about 5% of those results positive for the virus. It was 25th consecutive day the positivity rate fell below 10%, health officials said.

The Associated Press is a wire service to which WUFT News subscribes.