November was second-highest month for new Covid-19 cases in Pinellas County

The Florida Department of Health reported 7,032 newly confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Pinellas County in November.

It was the second-largest number of new cases since the pandemic began in March. In July, there were 9,743 new cases in Pinellas County.

Note: The state health department changed Covid case reporting in June, so that daily reports reflected totals from the prior day.

The county now has a cumulative total of 33,246 cases, including 188 cases in the latest health department report released Tuesday.

The total includes about 12,889 people in St. Petersburg.

There are 911 deaths attributed to Covid-19 in Pinellas County, 88 of those deaths in November. Nine additional deaths were added to the total in the most recent report.

Note: The state health department changed Covid case reporting in June, so that daily reports reflected totals from the prior day.

Case counts and deaths are rising statewide as well. On Tuesday, Florida topped 1 million total cases of Covid-19, reporting a cumulative total of 1,008,166 and 18,916 deaths since March.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 192 people were hospitalized in Pinellas County with a primary diagnosis of Covid-19. About 26.4 percent of the hospital beds in the county were available, as were about 18.8 percent of the adult intensive care unit beds, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

The county’s positivity rate, or percent of people who take a Covid-19 test and test positive, dropped to 6.34 percent on Monday, after hitting 8.42 percent on Sunday. Over the past two weeks, the positivity rate has averaged 5.68 percent. Some public health officials say restrictions should be in place when the positivity rate remains above 5 percent, although state and federal reopening guidelines cite a 10 percent threshold for imposing restrictions. The St. Pete Catalyst has a daily update on total cases by ZIP code, which you can find here.