Florida adds more than 100 new COVID-19 deaths as toll in Miami-Dade nears 3,000
Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 3,116 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 668,846. There were also 145 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the resident death toll to 12,787.
One new non-resident death was also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 159.
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 389 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 29 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 164,688 confirmed cases and 2,923 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 4.95%. The 14-day positivity average is 5.40%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” Dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 164 additional confirmed cases of the disease and four new deaths. The county has a known total of 74,689 cases and 1,288 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 4.05%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 166 additional confirmed cases and 17 new deaths. The county now has 44,305 confirmed cases and 1,216 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 4.22%.
▪ Monroe County did not confirm any additional cases or new deaths. The county’s known total is at 1,787 cases and 20 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 3.28%.
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 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, there were 2,576 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 Tuesday’s hospitalizations, 392 were in Miami-Dade, 260 in Broward, 159 in Palm Beach and two 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 Tuesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 497 to 480, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Tuesday’s data, 66 people were discharged and 54 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 41,654 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 Tuesday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 68,958 people tested on Monday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 4.22%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate was 5.59% of the total, according to the report.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Florida adds more than 100 new COVID-19 deaths as toll in Miami-Dade nears 3,000."
