Nearly half of total coronavirus cases in Florida are in Miami-Dade and Broward
The total number of cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, spiked overnight, jumping from 216 to 328 total cases.
Of those 328, 299 cases are Florida residents in the state or residents tested elsewhere, according to data posted on the Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard.
State officials announced that one more person died of the illness, bringing the death toll in Florida to eight. The person who died was in Clay County, and had previously tested positive for COVID-19.
The numbers were updated Wednesday evening.
Numbers have spiked in South Florida, where the cases in Broward County grew from 55 to 80 overnight, and cases in Miami-Dade grew from 44 to 77.
Of the 80 cases in Broward, 19 had no travel and no contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. In Miami-Dade, that number is much higher, with 44 cases of what could be considered “community spread.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, community spread means people have been randomly infected with the virus and don’t know how or where they may have caught it.
In total, there are seven non-residents who tested positive in Broward and three non-residents in Miami-Dade.
South Florida has been considered a hot spot, with the two counties making up 49.7% of the cases in the state. They are also testing more than any other counties. Broward has tested 604 people so far, and Miami-Dade has tested 393.
Miami-Dade and Broward counties combined — 2.8 million and 1.9 million, respectively — account for 22.3% of Florida’s population based on April 1, 2019, data from the Office of Economic and Demographic Research, a research arm of the Legislature.
According to data released by the Department of Emergency Management Wednesday night, the daily percentage of emergency room visits that mention cough, fever or both in Miami-Dade County has increased over the past two weeks. The same goes for Broward County.
On Tuesday, there was a death at a Broward County assisted living facility, where two other people died the same day, stoking fears in the region. The other two people who died tested negative for COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, 2,800 people have been tested for the illness in the state. Out of the 1,539 tests that have come back with results, about 20% of people tested are testing positive for the virus.
There are 1,140 cases still pending.
Private labs account for about 39% of the tests being done, even though they just started testing last week. The partnerships will increase the number of tests conducted each day, state health officials said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 12:02 PM.