Florida adds 2,258 coronavirus cases, lowest single-day count reported since June
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 2,258 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 602,829. There were also 72 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the resident death toll to 10,397.
No new non-resident deaths were reported, leaving the non-resident toll at 137.
Monday’s newly confirmed cases is the lowest single-day count reported since June. It is also the second day this week that the state reported fewer than 3,000 additional cases. Testing was also down.
On Monday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 45,603 people tested on Sunday, the second lowest test count reported this month.
The lowest count was recorded on Aug. 16 with 39,167 tests. Many state-supported testing sites were closed that weekend because of Tropical Storm Isaias.
With the exception of those two days, Florida has reported more than 56,530 tests a day in August. This includes retests.
A three-day rolling average of new daily cases in the past two weeks, which helps smooth out day-to-day dips and spikes, shows that Florida has seen some decrease in new cases.
Confimed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 626 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 10 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 152,612 confirmed cases and 2,253 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 9.13%. While Miami-Dade saw the lowest number of cases in months on Monday, the 5,697 county residents whose test results were reported on Sunday represented the lowest number of people tested on any day in the prior month, according to the health department’s daily summary.
▪ Broward County reported 247 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 19 new deaths. The county now has a known total of 69,383 cases and 1,132 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 4.34%
▪ Palm Beach County saw 176 additional confirmed cases and two new deaths. The county now has 40,746 confirmed cases and 1,061 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 5.34%
▪ Monroe County saw one additional confirmed case and no new deaths. The county now has a known total of 1,694 cases and 14 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 1.25%
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 12:30 p.m. Monday, there were 4,649 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 902 were in Miami-Dade, 603 in Broward, 237 in Palm Beach and 4 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 remained at 1,019 like on Sunday, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 56 people were discharged and 64 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 36,596 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 45,603 people tested on Sunday. The positive rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 5.20%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positive rate for Wednesday’s testing was 8.28% of the total, according to the report.
In total, 6,047,364 tests have been conducted. To date, 4,453,929 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 602,829 (13.53%) have tested positive. The state says there are 3,561 tests with pending results.
Miami Herald staff writer Daniel Chang contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Florida adds 2,258 coronavirus cases, lowest single-day count reported since June."
