South Florida again has most of Florida’s 595 new coronavirus cases and 6 deaths
As South Florida leaders decide on the timing of reopening places of gathering and spending, the region continues to account for most of the reported new COVID-19 cases in Florida.
Sunday afternoon’s update said 316 of Florida’s 595 new novel coronavirus cases came from Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties. Five of the six deaths came from the region, also, although all of those were in Miami-Dade.
The state now has 40,596 and 1,721 deaths. The positive test rate slid slightly from 7.6% to 7.5% in the state.
As far as South Florida’s counties:
Miami-Dade saw an increase of 166 known cases and five deaths to 14,007 and 487, respectively. The reported positive test rate on 110,506 tests remains at 12.7%. Hospitalizations rose by 16, to 2,097 (this isn’t current hospitalizations, but those hospitalized at any point by COVID-19 infection).
Broward added 78 cases to rise to 5,858 and 13 hospitalizations to rise to 1,171. The county’s death toll remains at 257. The positive test rate nudged up to 9.1%.
Monroe County added no additional cases, hospitalizations or deaths, holding at 89, 11 and 3, respectively. It’s positive test rate fell slightly at 5.5 percent.
Palm Beach saw an increase of 72 in cases (3,870) and 11 in hospitalizations (644) but none in deaths (237). The positive test rate remained at 9.5 percent.
More than half of the known COVID-19 cases are in South Florida. Miami-Dade continues to lead the state with the most confirmed cases and deaths.
Despite the daily reports of new cases and deaths, local and state officials have previously said that decreases in the daily total of reported cases are signs that social distancing measures are working.
Officials are also relying on hospitalization data. Unlike testing, which might be limited or take days to report results, hospitalizations can help give officials a real-time visual of how many people are severely ill with COVID-19.
The health department says it doesn’t “have a figure” to reflect the number of people currently hospitalized and only provides the total number of hospitalizations in its statewide and county-level data. But, hospitals in Miami-Dade are self-reporting a number of key metrics, including hospitalizations, to the county. Some provide updates every day, others don’t.
STATISTICAL CAVEATS
The number of deaths being reported by the Florida Department of Health does not match the state’s Medical Examiners Commission official death count. The health department’s overall count is higher, a discrepancy that has left the commission’s chairman questioning the validity of the department’s data.
Previously, the death counts released by the medical examiner’s commission last month was up to 10 percent higher than the totals released by the Florida Department of Health.
Testing in Florida has seen a steady growth since the COVID-19 crisis began — with a steady decline in the percentage of people testing positive — but less than 2% of the population has been tested for the disease, according to a Miami Herald analysis.
Testing, like hospitalizations, helps officials determine the virus’ progress and plays a role in deciding whether it is safe to lift stay-at-home orders and loosen restrictions.
