Florida sees lowest single-day count since June as death toll runs past 12,600
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 1,736 additional cases of COVID-19, the lowest single-day count seen since June.
The state now has a total of 665,730 confirmed cases. There were also 34 Florida resident deaths announced Monday, bringing the resident death toll to 12,642.
Two new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 158, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
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 213 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 14 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 164,299 confirmed cases and 2,894 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 4.18%. The 14-day positivity average is 5.58%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 91 additional confirmed cases of the disease and four new deaths. The county has a known total of 74,525 cases and 1,284 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 2.58%
▪ Palm Beach County saw 114 additional confirmed cases and three new deaths. The county has 44,139 confirmed cases and 1,199 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 2.99%
▪ Monroe County saw eight additional confirmed cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 1,787 cases and 20 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 7.03%
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 2,635 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This is a significant decrease from early August, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Monday’s hospitalizations, 406 were in Miami-Dade, 278 in Broward, 152 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 Monday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 509 to 497, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 40 people were discharged and 34 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 41,374 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 positivity 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 50,968 people tested on Sunday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 3.91%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate was 5.19% of the total, according to the report.
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Florida sees lowest single-day count since June as death toll runs past 12,600."
