Coronavirus in Florida, July 30: State reports daily record 253 new deaths

For the third consecutive day, the Florida Department of Health reported a new daily record for COVID-19 deaths, verifying 253 Thursday.

Wednesday marked the first time deaths have surpassed 200 since the pandemic arrived to the state. The death toll among Florida residents now stands at 6,586. So far in July, the state has verified 3,081 COVID-19 deaths.

The number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 9,956 Thursday, marking the 37th consecutive day the state has recorded more than 5,000 new cases. However, the state has recorded five straight days with fewer than 10,000 new cases, the first time that’s happened since July 6-9.

Florida has counted a total of 461,379 cases since the pandemic began.

Florida’s seven-day rolling average for deaths increased to a record-high 152.6 Thursday.

The number of Florida residents hospitalized with COVID-19 increased to 26,017 since the pandemic began. The Department of Health notes the total figure is cumulative and does not reflect the number of COVID-19 patients currently in hospitals.