TALLAHASSEE - More than 84,000 Florida residents have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic started in 2020, with the total increasing by nearly 1,000 in the past month.

According to the state's Department of Health, 84,176 residents had died of COVID-19 as of last Thursday. That was up from a reported 83,201 deaths in early December.

Because of lags in reporting, it is unclear when the additional deaths occurred.

The DOH also reported an increase in reported COVID-19 cases. During the week of Dec. 30 through Thursday, the state had a reported 31,633 cases, compared to 23,939 reported cases the previous week. As another comparison, the state had a reported 12,365 cases during the week that started Oct. 28, according to DOH data.