Florida sees second day of fewer than 1,000 new coronavirus cases. Death toll passes 600
Florida saw its second day of relatively low novel coronavirus confirmations since late March. The state has not seen two consecutive days of new reported cases under 1,000 since March 29.
Wednesday evening, the Florida Department of Health confirmed 891 additional cases of COVID-19 and 43 new deaths statewide since Tuesday night. The state’s total number of confirmed cases jumped to 22,519, while the state’s death toll grew to 614.
The drop in the number of coronavirus cases being reported may be due to Florida significantly underreporting the state’s COVID-19 testing backlog.
The state reports only the number of Floridians waiting to hear test results from state labs, not private ones — and private labs are completing more than 90% of state tests. The state website doesn’t say that its figures exclude the vast majority of pending tests for the novel coronavirus.
Of the 43 new deaths, 29 were in South Florida.
Miami-Dade County saw 11 new deaths since Tuesday night. Health officials reported 14 new deaths in Broward County and four new deaths in Palm Beach County. The 11 Miami-Dade deaths included eight men and three women ranging in age from 47 to 91.
Miami-Dade continues to have the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths in Florida and is ranked 12th in the country of counties with the most coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
In Broward, the 14 deaths included eight men and six women ranging in age from 53 to 90.
In Palm Beach, the four deaths were two men and two women ranging in age from 45 to 79.
The 14 other deaths were in Charlotte, Citrus, Highlands, Lake, Lee, Orange, St. Johns, Sumter and Volusia counties.
Of the new cases, 438 are Florida residents, while eight are non-residents who were diagnosed or isolated in the state.
In total, 21,865 of the confirmed cases are Florida residents and 654 are non-residents. The state has had a total of 3,249 hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications.
The statewide and county-level data for COVID-19 hospitalizations includes anyone who was hospitalized during their illness and “does not reflect the number of people currently hospitalized,” according to Florida’s Department of Health.
The department says it does not “have a figure” to reflect current hospitalization data.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
As of Wednesday evening, here’s what Florida’s Department of Health COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard showed:
Miami-Dade County saw 200 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county total to 8,063. Those who have fallen ill range from 0 to 103. (Those in the zero age range are less than 1.) Health officials say 7,990 are residents, 72 are non-residents and one is a resident who is not in Florida. The county has had 702 hospitalizations and 155 deaths, the state’s highest death toll.
Broward County reported 29 additional confirmed cases of the disease, raising the county total of confirmed cases to 3,363. Those who have fallen ill range from 0 to 99. Health officials say 3,249 are residents and 114 are non-residents. The county has had 94 deaths and 562 hospitalizations.
Palm Beach County had 34 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county total to 1,816. Those who have fallen ill range from 0 to 104. Health officials say 1,763 are residents, 51 are non-residents and two are residents who are not in Florida. The county has had 326 hospitalizations and 107 deaths.
Monroe County had two additional confirmed cases of the disease. The county has a total of 66 known cases of COVID-19. Only six of them are non-residents. Those who have fallen ill range from 14 to 80. The Florida Keys have had three deaths and nine hospitalizations.
This breaking news article will be updated as more information becomes available.
The state Department of Health’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard did not note a change in deaths for the state, Miami-Dade County or Broward County since Wednesday morning. This numbers differed from health officials’ morning data report. The evening report has not yet been released.
As of Wednesday morning, health officials reported 11 deaths in Broward and three in Miami-Dade, according to the COVID-19 dashboard. However, the nearly 400-page morning data report states 12 people between the ages of 53 and 90 died in Broward, and two women — a 55-year-old and an 88-year-old — died in Miami-Dade.
That means Broward has a death toll of 92 or 93 and Miami-Dade has a death toll of 145 or 146 depending on the data set.
Despite the differences,
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 11:38 AM.
