Florida confirms 3,197 new COVID cases and 148 deaths as positivity rate trends down
Florida’s Department of Health on Saturday confirmed 3,197 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 619,003. There were also 148 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the resident death toll to 11,105.
The number of non-resident deaths increased by one to 144.
CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES IN SOUTH FLORIDA
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 620 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 27 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 156,038 confirmed cases and 2,399 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 7.09%.
▪ Broward County reported 251 additional confirmed cases of the disease and eight new deaths. The county now has a known total of 70,764 cases and 1,183 deaths Percent positivity for new cases: 4.27%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 172 additional confirmed cases and 18 new deaths. The county now has 41,730 confirmed cases and 1,117 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 6.34%.
▪ Monroe County saw five additional confirmed cases and no new deaths. The county now has a known total of 1,719 cases and holds at 16 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 2.08%.
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 11:45 a.m. Saturday, there were 3,822 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 704 were in Miami-Dade, 484 in Broward, 160 in Palm Beach and one in Monroe counties, according to the agency. These numbers represent a decline from Friday afternoon’s figures except the Florida Keys added one patient.
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 Saturday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 865 to 821, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Saturday’s data, 99 people were discharged and 69 people were admitted.
COVID-19 Testing in Florida
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 Saturday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 64,904 people tested on Friday, a drop from 67,578 on Thursday. The positive rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 4.94%.
To date, 4,582,134 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 619,003 (13.51%) have tested positive — a slight dip from 13.52%.
This story was originally published August 29, 2020 at 11:36 AM with the headline "Florida confirms 3,197 new COVID cases and 148 deaths as positivity rate trends down."
