Florida adds 2,251 coronavirus cases as state positivity rate goes up to more than 5%
Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 2,251 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 720,125. Also, 55 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 14,767.
Four new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 178.
The cumulative total of resident deaths and the cumulative total of deaths in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties may be off because of a discrepancy that occurred Tuesday between Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard and the state’s county-by-county coronavirus report.
While the dashboard lists 55 resident deaths, the report lists 92 resident deaths, which would push the cumulative toll even closer to 15,000. The report also lists 20 deaths added in Miami-Dade instead of the dashboard’s 15, eight deaths in Broward instead of six, and seven deaths in Palm Beach County instead of two.
The dashboard and the coronavirus report also had a death discrepancy Monday. When asked about the discrepancies, the Florida Department of Health told the Miami Herald they were looking into it.
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).
Due to the data discrepancy, the death counts listed below are based on the dashboard.
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 451 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 15 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 172,849 confirmed cases and 3,349 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 3.04% to 6.05%. The 14-day percent positivity average is 4.81%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 124 additional confirmed cases of the disease and six new deaths. The county has a known total of 78,136 cases and 1,429 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 2.05% to 3.61%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 91 additional confirmed cases and two new deaths. The county now has 47,244 confirmed cases and 1,396 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 3.01% to 3.95%
▪ Monroe County confirmed six additional cases and one new death. The county has a known total of 1,886 cases and 23 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 10.58% to 7.79%.
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 providing only 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 12:16 p.m. Tuesday, there were 2,154 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, 280 were in Miami-Dade, 217 in Broward, 96 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 increased from 338 to 346, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Tuesday’s data, 43 people were discharged and 51 people were admitted.
The state has had 45,004 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 46,940 people tested on Monday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 3.89% to 5.26%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate rose from 5.15% to 6.82% of the total, the report said.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Florida adds 2,251 coronavirus cases as state positivity rate goes up to more than 5%."
