Florida sees steepest decline in new daily coronavirus cases, deaths. This may be an anomaly
The Florida Department of Health changed how it would be reporting new coronavirus cases throughout the state on Saturday, going from two updates a day to one.
The immediate effects of this change is that the state saw a steep decline of new daily cases and deaths not seen since late March when new statewide cases began to skyrocket, which contrasts the recent trends of the numbers.
On Saturday, 306 new statewide coronavirus cases were reported, bringing Florida’s total to 30,839. The statewide death toll is now 1,055, with nine new deaths announced.
In contrast, Friday saw 885 new statewide cases, Thursday had 1,072 and Wednesday saw 707. As for deaths in the past three days, the toll rose daily between 59 to 60 new deaths.
This stark difference is possibly because the afternoon update that has been provided by health officials since mid-March consistently added between 200 to 1,000 cases to the daily new case total, averaging about 350 new cases in each afternoon update. The death toll saw on average about 14 new reported deaths in each afternoon update.
More than a month of state coronavirus case and death data indicate that Sunday morning will see a substantial increase from the 306 new cases and nine deaths reported Saturday.
If there is not a substantial increase in cases or deaths, it may be due to testing becoming more available and rapid testing becoming more frequent. Although state data does not indicate this increase in testing.
The past two weeks has seen the usual trend of about 8,000 to 15,000 new tests conducted a day. The only anomalies were on April 17 when 16,145 new tests were reported, which was on the same day the state saw its highest increase in cases, and on Friday when there were 17,898 new tests. Friday did not see a correlation between the increase of new tests and new cases.
Health experts are also concerned the statewide total of confirmed cases is significantly undercounted because Florida 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.
Saturday’s only update showed that Miami-Dade topped 11,000 confirmed coronavirus cases — accounting for nearly a third of Florida’s total count.
South Florida remains at the epicenter of Florida’s cases. As of Saturday morning, the four counties — Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe — accounted for 18,355 of the state’s cases, which total more than half. Miami-Dade had the majority of the cases in South Florida at 11,005 — a rise of 79 people.
It was the sixth day this week that the number of Florida’s total confirmed cases was fewer than 1,000. Thursday was the only day that the count topped 1,000.
Of the nine new deaths, eight were in Miami-Dade. Other regional counties — Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe — reported no new deaths since Friday night.
The accuracy of the state’s reported confirmed cases has been called into question after University of Miami researchers released a preliminary study Friday indicating that about 6% of Miami-Dade’s population, about 165,000 residents, have antibodies indicating a past infection by the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Information from Saturday morning’s report
▪ Eight people died in Miami-Dade County, raising the death toll to 295. Miami-Dade continues to have the highest death toll in the state.
▪ Broward County’s death count remains at 162.
▪ Palm Beach County’s death count remains at 155.
▪ Monroe has remained steady at three deaths. The Florida Keys have been closed to tourists since March 27 and will remain off limits to non-residents through May and maybe even into June, Monroe spokeswoman Kristen Livengood said on Friday.
Of the total statewide cases, 29,996 are Florida residents and 843 are non-residents.
Since Friday night, 32 more people have been hospitalized across the state due to COVID-19. Florida health officials say the state currently has 4,849 hospitalizations.
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 the Department of Health.
Test results
The results of thousands of pending tests from private labs have taken as long as two weeks to be added to the state’s official count. The state’s website does not say its figures exclude the vast majority of pending tests for the novel coronavirus.
According to the state’s health department there have been 334,974 tests given as of Saturday morning. Of these, 30,839, or 9.2%, came back positive and 302,260 tested negative.
▪ Miami-Dade administered 73,945 tests and 11,005, or nearly 15%, were positive.
▪ Broward administered 42,187 tests and 4,659, or 9%, were positive.
▪ Palm Beach County administered 22,677 tests and 2,614, or 11.5%, were positive.
State and county reactions
Counties and cities across the state have already begun to reopen beaches with limited access in an attempt to return life to some degree of normalcy. Miami-Dade is expected to reopen parks, marinas and golf courses sometime next week, but beaches will remain closed.
Florida International University announced on Friday that its Summer B term, beginning June 22, would be remote without face-to-face lectures. A decision on its fall classes has not been determined.
COVID-19 confirmed cases in South Florida
As of Saturday morning, here’s what Florida’s Department of Health data showed:
Miami-Dade County had 79 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county total to 11,005 confirmed cases. Of those, 10,868 are residents, 136 are non-residents and one is a resident who is not in Florida.
The ages of the sick range from 0 to 105. (A person who is listed as age zero means they are less than 1.) The median age is 49, and the county has had 1,265 hospitalizations and 295 deaths.
Race and ethnicity breakdown of cases: 4,838 white or 45%; 1,412 or 13% black; 4,549 or 42% Hispanic. The numbers don’t add up to 100% as they also account for other races and ethnicities and unknowns or no data.
Broward County reported 68 additional confirmed cases, raising the county total of confirmed cases to 4,659. Health officials say 4,535 are residents and 124 are non-residents.
The sick range from ages 0 to 102 with a median age of 50. The county has had 875 hospitalizations and 162 deaths.
Race and ethnicity breakdown of cases: 2,216 white or 49%; 1,464 or 32% black; 1,455 or 32% Hispanic.
Palm Beach County had 14 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county total to 2,614. Health officials say 2,554 are residents, 58 are non-residents and two are residents who are not in Florida.
The sick range from ages 0 to 104 with a median age of 56. The county has had 400 hospitalizations and 155 deaths.
Race and ethnicity breakdown of cases: 920 white or 36%; 330 black or 13%; 309 Hispanic or 12%.
Monroe County reported no additional confirmed cases of the disease. The county has 77 known cases of COVID-19. Eight are non-residents.
The sick from ages 6 to 80 with a median age of 51. The Florida Keys have had three deaths and 12 hospitalizations.
Race and ethnicity breakdown of cases: 55 white or 80%; five or 7% black; 18 or 26% Hispanic.
This story was originally published April 25, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
