Florida adds 4,353 coronavirus cases, topping 850,000, as 69 deaths push toll past 17,200
Florida’s Department of Health Tuesday confirmed 4,353 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 852,174, the third-highest number in the country, after Texas and California, according to the New York Times database.
In addition, the state announced 69 deaths, bringing the resident death toll to 17,248.
There were no new non-resident deaths, leaving the non-resident toll at 212.
On Monday, the number of COVID cases in the United States surpassed 10 million.
State-supported COVID-19 testing sites in Miami-Dade and Broward were closed this weekend for Tropical Storm Eta preparations. And while some sites reopened Tuesday, others were still closed because of flooding, including the test site at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
COVID-19 test sites in Palm Beach County, which also closed during the weekend, will reopen Wednesday and test sites in Lee County on the state’s southwest coast are closed until further notice.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 394 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county has a total of 195,273 confirmed cases and 3,690 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.95% to 6.30%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 6.48%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” Dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 263 additional confirmed cases and one new death. The county now has a known total of 91,704 cases and 1,560 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.43% to 6.64%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 329 additional confirmed cases and two new deaths. The county now has 56,145 confirmed cases and 1,612 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 8.62% to 7.95%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed nine additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 2,605 cases and 25 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 8.45% to 6.07%.
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. Tuesday, there were 3,034 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, 400 were in Miami-Dade, 291 in Broward, 213 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 Tuesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications stayed at 481, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Tuesday’s data, 65 people were discharged and 52 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 50,872 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 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 whether there’s increased transmission of the virus in the community.
On Tuesday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 56,648 people tested on Monday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 8.07% to 8.34%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate decreased from 10% to 9.64%, according to the report.
This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Florida adds 4,353 coronavirus cases, topping 850,000, as 69 deaths push toll past 17,200."
