Florida tops 615,000 COVID-19 cases as state adds 3,815 infections and 89 deaths
Florida’s Department of Health on Friday confirmed 3,815 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 615,806. There were also 89 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the resident death toll to 10,957.
There were no new non-resident deaths announced, so the non-resident toll remains at 143.
CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES IN SOUTH FLORIDA
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 661 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 26 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 155,418 confirmed cases and 2,372 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 7.65%, a decline from 7.76%.
▪ Broward County reported 366 additional confirmed cases of the disease and six new deaths. The county now has a known total of 70,513 cases and 1,175 deaths Percent positivity for new cases: 4.87%, a decline from 5.93%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 363 additional confirmed cases and five new deaths. The county now has 41,558 confirmed cases and 1,099 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 6.34%, a rise from 5.22%.
▪ Monroe County saw 10 additional confirmed cases and one new death. The county now has a known total of 1,714 cases and 16 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 7.86%, a rise from 6.21%.
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 11:30 a.m. Friday, there were 3,993 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 747 were in Miami-Dade, 491 in Broward, 229 in Palm Beach and none in Monroe counties, according to the agency. These numbers all represent a decline from Thursday afternoon’s figures.
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 Friday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 894 to 865, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Friday’s data, 88 people were discharged and 57 people were admitted.
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 Friday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 67,578 people tested on Thursday. The positive rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 5.7%, a decline from Wednesday’s 6.36%.
To date, 4,554,563 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 615,806 (13.52%) have tested positive — a slight dip from 13.53%. The state says there are 3,447 tests with pending results.
This story was originally published August 28, 2020 at 11:01 AM.
