Florida reports more than 200 COVID deaths for second straight day, and 2,583 new cases
Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 2,583 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 654,731. There were also 211 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the resident death toll to 12,326.
Two new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing non-resident toll to 156.
This is the second day this week that Florida announced more than 200 deaths, but it does not necessarily mean that every person died in the past 24 hours. In Florida, the deaths announced on a given day could be from several days earlier. Wednesday was the first time in three weeks that Florida announced more than 200 deaths.
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 461 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 49 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 162,894 confirmed cases and 2,789 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 5.63%. The 14-day positivity average is 6.30%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 173 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 14 new deaths. The county now has a known total of 73,869 cases and 1,258 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 3.73%
▪ Palm Beach County saw 110 additional confirmed cases and nine new deaths. The county now has 43,532 confirmed cases and 1,187 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 3.75%
▪ Monroe County saw four additional confirmed cases and no new deaths. The county now has a known total of 1,767 cases and 20 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 5.56%
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 2:16 p.m. Thursday, there were 2,897 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 469 were in Miami-Dade, 324 in Broward, 153 in Palm Beach and three 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 Thursday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 614 to 579, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Thursday’s data, 94 people were discharged and 57 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 40,807 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 Thursday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 51,304 people tested on Wednesday. The positive rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 5.54%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positive rate was 7.19% of the total, according to the report.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Florida reports more than 200 COVID deaths for second straight day, and 2,583 new cases."
