The number of people in hospitals for COVID-19 treatment in Monroe County climbed to a new high for a sixth straight day, according to numbers from the county public health department.
The county also received almost 1,994 diagnostic tests results for the novel coronavirus -- the highest daily return since the county began releasing those numbers at the beginning of this month. Of those results, 70 came back positive.
After months of testing supply shortages, local laboratories now say they can process more samples than they're receiving, allowing more people in the county to be tested for the virus.
Black residents of Monroe County were more than three times as likely as white residents to be diagnosed and hospitalized with the virus, data from the county showed; Hispanic residents were almost twice as likely.
Leaders in the county's minority communities have said they expected the virus to exacerbate existing health disparities. That trend is largely the same across the country.
Black people in Monroe County were also more likely than white people to die of COVID-19, according to the local data. Hispanic residents had the lowest mortality rates reported by the county.
A total of 188 people have died of COVID-19 in Monroe County, the health department said.
