Florida adds 2,678 coronavirus cases, the lowest reported since June
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 2,678 additional cases of COVID-19, the lowest number of new cases reported since June. The state now has 576,094 total confirmed cases.
Monday’s total of newly confirmed cases is the second day in a row that the state reported fewer than 5,000 cases. Testing was also down.
So far in August, the state has reported more than 50,000 tests a day and has seen some decrease in positive cases. On Monday, the Florida Department of Health reported the results of 39,158 tests, the lowest test total reported this month.
The last time Florida reported cases in the 2,000s was on June 22, when it confirmed 2,926. Before that, 2,610 cases were reported on June 17.
An additional 87 Florida resident deaths were also announced Monday, bringing the statewide resident death toll to 9,539. No new nonresident deaths were announced, leaving the nonresident death toll at 135.
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 719 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 24 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 146,026 confirmed cases and 2,081 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 12.3%
▪ Broward County reported 379 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 33 new deaths. The county now has a known total of 66,826 cases and 1,013 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 9.2%
▪ Palm Beach County saw 145 additional confirmed cases and no new deaths. The county now has 39,274 confirmed cases and 992 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 7.2%
▪ Monroe County reported 10 additional cases of the disease and no new deaths, according to the health department. The Florida Keys now have 1,643 confirmed cases and 13 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 11.7%
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.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reports 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 5 p.m. Monday, there were 5,631 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 1,098 were in Miami-Dade, 739 in Broward, 357 in Palm Beach and 13 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. Officials say this could be for a number of reasons including the frequency of daily updates.
On Monday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 1,310 to 1,291, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 69 people were discharged and 81 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 34,194 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.
On Monday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 39,158 people tested on Sunday. The positive rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 8.25%.
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 12.10% of the total, according to the report.
In total, 5,713,403 tests have been conducted. To date, 4,259,573 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 576,094 (13.52%) have tested positive. The state says there are 3,799 tests with pending results.
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 2:34 PM.
