Florida reports rise in coronavirus cases over the past week

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida health officials reported an increase in COVID-19 cases and a higher positive test rate over the past week.

The number of virus cases in Florida rose by about 8,000 compared with the week before, for a total of 23,747 new cases, the state Department of Health reported Friday.

New cases of the coronavirus have been on the rise in Florida over the past month. The rate of positive tests was 7.8% last week after trending at about 4% positivity in recent weeks.

There were 172 deaths in Florida from COVID-19 last week, the health department reported.

More than 2,300 people were hospitalized in Florida with COVID-19 for the week of June 30 to July 6, according to the latest White House report. In comparison, 1,868 were hospitalized the previous week.

The state has recorded at least 2.4 million coronavirus cases and 38,901 deaths since the pandemic began, state figures show.

Officials also said the total number of Floridians who have been fully or partially vaccinated at around 11 million, or 58% of Floridians who are 12 and older.