Florida reports 5,557 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single day since mid-August
Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 5,557 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 768,091. Also, 57 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 16,267.
The state reported no new nonresident deaths leaving the non-resident toll at 203.
The total cases’ figure is the highest single-day count since Aug. 15 when 6,352 were reported. Since then, only Sept. 1 and Oct. 11 had higher reported numbers because of a “data dump” in the former and a combination of two days’ worth of numbers due to a technical issue last Sunday. Florida has seen some increase in overall positive cases this month.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 853 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 13 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 180,497 confirmed cases and 3,581 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 5.15% to 5.19%.
▪ Broward County reported 546 additional confirmed cases of the disease and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 82,250 cases and 1,519 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 5.88% to 4.91%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 379 additional confirmed cases and reduced the total death count by four from Wednesday’s reported 1,553 total. The state did not explain why the numbers were changed. The county now has 49,759 confirmed cases and 1,549 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 4.59% to 5.58%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 30 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 2,131 cases and 25 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 6.18% to 8.12%.
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 6:16 p.m. Thursday, there were 2,074 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, 55 fewer than Wednesday evening, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This is still a significant decrease from early August, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Thursday’s hospitalizations, there were 275 in Miami-Dade, a rise of one compared to Wednesday evening; 185 in Broward, a decline of 24; 114 in Palm Beach, a rise of two; and four in Monroe, a drop of four, 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 Thursday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications increased from 340 to 341, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Wednesday’s data, 56 people were discharged and 41 people were admitted.
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The state has had a total of 47,765 Florida residents hospitalized for COVID-19-related complications, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
COVID-19 Testing in Florida
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 Thursday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 97,984 people tested on Wednesday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) decreased from 6.72% to 5.6%.
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Florida reports 5,557 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single day since mid-August."
