Florida adds 2,725 COVID-19 cases, and more than 100 new deaths push toll past 15,500
Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 2,725 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 738,749. Also, 119 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 15,531.
Four new non-resident deaths were announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 191.
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 440 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 20 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 175,837 confirmed cases and 3,465 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 4.30% to 4.51%. The 14-day positivity average is 4.72%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” Dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 177 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 12 new deaths. The county has a known total of 79,611 cases and 1,481 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 2.26% to 3.24%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 172 additional confirmed cases and 12 new deaths. The county now has 48,176 confirmed cases and 1,461 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 1.95% to 4.16%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 13 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 1,971 cases and 24 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 4.58% to 9.15%.
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 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, there were 2,134 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, 260 were in Miami-Dade, 175 in Broward, 115 in Palm Beach and four 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 had a slight increase from 341 to 347, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 54 people were discharged and 49 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 46,225 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 58,779 people tested on Monday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) rose from 4.25% to 4.99%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate rose from 5.16% to 6.26% of the total, according to the report.
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Florida adds 2,725 COVID-19 cases, and more than 100 new deaths push toll past 15,500."
