Florida's COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Continue to Slow, Deaths Increasing

Florida's COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to slow, but virus-related deaths in the state are still increasing.

Florida's COVID-19 death toll was 63,455 Tuesday, an increase of 365 since Friday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state didn't report deaths during the three-day holiday weekend.

Deaths can take days or even weeks to confirm and report, but the state's average has started to show increases since last month.

The 7-day moving average of deaths in Florida had been under 30 in late December but was over 50 on Jan. 10, and could go even higher as more deaths are reported.

Figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services showed there were 10,893 inpatient beds in use for COVID-19 in Florida hospitals, a decrease of 372 from the previous day.

Intensive care unit beds being used for COVID-19 in Florida were at 1,461, down from 1,505 the previous day, according to HHS.

The Florida Hospital Association reports its own figures and had 10,643 confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday.

Florida's COVID-19 cases are also trending downward after reaching record levels last week.

After not reporting cases over the three-day holiday weekend, the state reported 33,032 new cases on Monday, according to figures released by the CDC.

Florida had 31,855 cases on Sunday, according to the CDC. The state set a record on Jan. 8 with over 77,000 daily cases and the state's 7-day average had surpassed 65,600 last Tuesday but has been on the decline and dropped below 50,000 on Monday.

The state has 5,153,539 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.