Florida adds nearly 3,000 coronavirus cases and more than 60 deaths
Florida’s Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed 2,883 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 741,632. Also, 64 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 15,595.
Two new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 193, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard. Wednesday’s testing information was not immediately available.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 434 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 20 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 176,271 confirmed cases and 3,485 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 4.47% to 5.08%. The 14-day positivity average is 4.73%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” Dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 265 additional confirmed cases of the disease and three new deaths. The county has a known total of 79,876 cases and 1,484 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 3.15% to 4.12%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 161 additional confirmed cases and four new deaths. The county now has 48,337 confirmed cases and 1,465 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases rose from 4.10% to 4.48%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed eight additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 1,979 cases and 24 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases fell from 9.15% to 5.73%.
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 5:46 p.m. Wednesday, there were 2,155 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 Wednesday’s hospitalizations, 272 were in Miami-Dade, 172 in Broward, 116 in Palm Beach and five 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 Wednesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 347 to 332, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Wednesday’s data, 60 people were discharged and 36 people were admitted.
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The state has had a total of 46,482 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 Wednesday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 57,269 people tested on Tuesday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) rose from 4.96% to 5.42%.
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If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate rose from 6.24% to 6.65% of the total, according to the report.
This article was updated to reflect Broward’s cumulative death toll.
This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Florida adds nearly 3,000 coronavirus cases and more than 60 deaths."
