Florida reports record coronavirus deaths for the 3rd day in a row

Florida reported 253 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, setting another record as case numbers begin to level off.

Florida has broken its daily death count records for the past three days in a row, with 186 COVID-19-related deaths reported Tuesday and 216 reported Wednesday. The state also reported another 9,956 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing its total case count to over 461,000, as well as more than 500 new coronavirus hospitalizations. New case numbers have been under 10,000 for five straight days now, but hospitalizations keep surging.

Only 18 of the deaths reported Thursday actually occurred within the past 24 hours; more than half of those happened at least a week ago. Florida and other recently hard-hit states have faced case and death reporting delays as those numbers overwhelm public health departments.

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Florida, along with Texas, has continued to lead the recent surge of coronavirus cases across the south and west of the U.S.; all but one of the top 10 growing coronavirus hotspots are in those states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. California and Arizona have also continued to report surging numbers.