Florida adds 4,155 new coronavirus cases, one of the lowest totals reported since June
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 4,155 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s known total to 536,961. There were also 91 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the statewide resident death toll to 8,277.
Monday’s newly confirmed cases is the lowest the state has reported since 4,752 cases were announced on Aug. 3. Testing also dropped and was near the levels that were reported early last week when some state-supported testing sites were beginning to reopen after closing for Tropical Storm Isaias.
Prior to that, the last time the state reported newly confirmed cases fewer than 5,000 was in June.
There were two new non-resident deaths in the state also announced, bringing the non-resident death toll to 131.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
Note: The Florida Department of Health says that each county’s percent positivity for new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) does not include retests (people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time.)
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,162 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 133,623 confirmed cases and 1,874 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 10.7%.
▪ Broward County reported 630 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 18 new deaths. The county now has a known total of 62,898 cases and 821 deaths. Percent positivity rate for new cases: 9.5%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 277 additional confirmed cases and five new deaths. The county now has 37,297 confirmed cases and 936 deaths. Percent positivity rate for new cases: 7.3%.
▪ Monroe County reported five additional cases of the disease and no new deaths, according to the health department. The Florida Keys now have 1,531 confirmed cases and 13 deaths. Percent positivity rate for new cases: 6.2%.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida
One of the tools that officials rely on to determine whether the coronavirus situation is improving in the state is hospitalization data. Unlike testing, which might be limited or take days to report results, hospitalizations can help give officials a real-time snapshot of how many people are severely ill with COVID-19.
Last month, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration began reporting the number of patients hospitalized statewide with a “primary diagnosis of COVID.” The data, which is updated at least every hour, does not distinguish between the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital intensive care units and those in acute-care beds, which require less attention from nurses.
Previously, the state was only providing the total number of hospitalizations in its statewide and county-level data. Miami-Dade was an exception, with hospitals self-reporting a number of key metrics, including hospitalizations, to the county, which has made this data public for several months.
As of 1:45 p.m. Monday, there were 6,948 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 1,480 were in Miami-Dade, 933 in Broward, 441 in Palm Beach and 7 in Monroe counties, according to the agency.
Florida’s current hospitalization data does not always match the hospitalization data reported in Miami-Dade’s “New Normal” dashboard. Miami-Dade Deputy Mayor Jennifer Moon previously told the Miami Herald that there are a number of reasons the county’s hospitalization data might differ from the state’s.
She said they include the frequency of daily updates, human error and whether the state’s agency is including in its data the patients who visited the emergency room for other urgent medical needs and tested positive for COVID after they are admitted.
On Monday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 1,682 to 1,666 according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 102 people were discharged and 82 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 30,785 Florida residents hospitalized for COVID-19-related complications, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
COVID-19 testing in Florida
Testing in Florida has seen steady growth since the COVID-19 crisis began.
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.
Epidemiologists then use the testing data to create a positive rate. The rate helps them determine if a rise in cases is because of an increase in testing, or if it means there’s increased transmission of the virus in the community.
Johns Hopkins University is tracking cases globally and says it is using the World Health Organization recommendation of using a 5% positive rate as a measure of whether a state’s testing capacity is sufficient.
Anything higher than 5% indicates a state may be testing only those who are sickest and are seeking out a test and may require medical attention, and is not casting a wide enough net to capture milder infections.
On Monday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 58,153 people tested on Sunday. The positive rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 8.6%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positive rate for Sunday’s testing was 12.26% of the total, according to the report.
In total, 5,320,145 tests have been conducted. To date, 4,020,073 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 536,961 (13.36%) have tested positive. The state says there are 3,362 tests with pending results.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Florida adds 4,155 new coronavirus cases, one of the lowest totals reported since June."
