Florida Sets New Daily COVID-19 Case Record With 76,887 on Friday

Florida has once again set a daily record for COVID-19 cases, with 76,887 reported on Friday.

The cases are more than 1,000 over the previous record of 75,732 that was set on Dec. 30.

The new cases increased the state's total to more than 4.56 million since the pandemic began, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Florida's 7-day moving average for daily cases has risen to its highest level ever in recent days, passing 56,000, according to the CDC. That average had been below 1,300 as recently as last month.

New case positivity in the state has risen to 31.2%, according to the weekly report released Friday by the Florida Department of Health. The positivity rate had dropped to 2.1% as recently as mid-November.

The dramatic rise in cases has been attributed to the fast-spreading omicron variant of the virus, as well as a large increase in people seeking testing.

Hospitalizations in the state continued to rise Friday, with 8,914 inpatient beds in use for COVID-19, accounting for about 15.46% of the state's total based on 264 hospitals reporting, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That number was 8,406 on Thurssday.

Another 1,015 intensive care unit beds were in use for COVID-19 Friday, about 16.19% of the state's total based on 270 hospitals reporting, according to HHS.

Hospitalizations remain well below this past summer's delta surge, when they peaked at more than 17,100.

Florida's coronavirus-related death toll reached 62,688 on Friday. Deaths can take days or weeks to report while they're confirmed.