Florida surpasses record for most COVID-19 deaths in single week

Florida on Sunday surpassed its record for the most COVID-19 deaths in a single week, with 1,230 reported in the past seven days. 

The Sunshine State broke the previous record, set one week earlier, after recording  257 deaths on Friday, the most in a single day, according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

On Sunday, the state recorded 62 additional deaths, bringing its total during the pandemic to 7,084, according to Florida data.

In the past week, Florida has also identified 63,277 new coronavirus cases and 3,086 hospitalizations. By comparison, experienced 73,808 new cases, 3,093 hospitalizations and 872 deaths in the week ended last Sunday, the Orlando Sentinel reported. 

The state government notes on its COVID-19 dashboard that the date of reported COVID-19 deaths may not line up with the actual date of death, as sometimes it takes weeks to confirm. 

The actual death toll reached beyond 100 deaths per day between July 7 and 26.

Florida’s data also indicates that 122 non-residents have died of coronavirus in the state, and a total of 27,150 people have been hospitalized throughout the pandemic.

Public health experts say the death toll aligns with the surge in cases earlier this month. Florida recorded 7,104 new cases on Sunday, which is slightly less than the 10,000 cases per day recorded earlier in the month. 

Florida’s largest single-day increase in new cases took place on July 12 with 15,300 new COVID-19 cases. 

The Sunshine State has the second-most cases recorded out of any state, only behind California. But it leads in the number of cases identified in the last week per 100,000 people, according to The New York Times.

Florida became an epicenter of the pandemic in mid-June as the number of new cases confirmed soared through the middle of July.