Pinellas adds 236 Covid-19 cases, 5 deaths as positive rate ticks up
October 17, 2020 - Pinellas County continues to have triple-digit increases in the number of newly confirmed cases of Covid-19. On Saturday, the county reported 236 new cases, bringing the cumulative total to 23,982 cases in Pinellas since March. The county has reported 100 or more cases for five consecutive days. There were five additional Covid-19 deaths in Pinellas County reported overnight, for a cumulative total of 798 deaths. The positivity rate, or number of people who took a test and had a positive result, was 6.04 percent as of Friday, bringing the one-week average positive rate to about 5.3 percent. Many public health officials have said a rate over 5 percent is a concern and both St. Petersburg and Pinellas County officials said earlier this week they were closely watching the trend.