Florida reports record 26,203 new COVID-19 cases

Students sit in an algebra class at Barbara Coleman Senior High School on the first day of school, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in Miami Lakes, Fla. Miami-Dade County public schools require students to wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19. (Marta Lavandier, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida reported 26,203 additional COVID-19 cases to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, the highest number attributed to a single day according to those CDC metrics.

The state is now up to 3,130,144 cases and 42,731 deaths connected to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

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Nine more deaths were reported as part of the latest data.

The 7-day moving average of new cases per day increased to 21,604.

The United States’ 7-day moving average is 142,029 new cases per day, meaning Florida is accounting for 15% of those.

The latest data comes from numbers sent to the CDC by Florida’s health department. The state only releases a comprehensive COVID-19 report publicly once a week on Fridays.

This past Friday’s report showed that the new-case positivity rate statewide had reached 19.8%, a ninth consecutive week of increases in that metric.

Metrics from the Department of Health and Human Services showed Florida having 17,164 inpatient beds filled with COVID-19 patients, most in the country. More than 94% of the state’s ICU beds are in use, HHS says, and 86% of inpatient beds are in use.

To find out where you can get a COVID-19 vaccine in South Florida, click here.