Florida adds 6,933 new coronavirus cases, the most reported since mid-August
Florida’s Department of Health on Friday confirmed 6,933 new cases of COVID-19, the highest daily number since mid-August. The state now has 870,552 confirmed cases, the third-highest state in the country, after Texas and California, according to Friday’s New York Times database.
Also, Florida announced 73 resident deaths, bringing the resident death toll to 17,445. One new non-resident death was also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 214.
Friday’s single-day count is the most Florida has reported since Aug. 12 when Florida added 8,109 cases, excluding the Sept. 1 Quest Diagnostics data dump of 7,569 single-day cases.
Most South Florida coronavirus testing sites reopened Tuesday and Thursday after Eta drenched the area and brought tropical storm force winds. The testing site at Broward War Memorial will reopen on Tuesday.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,876 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and five new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The 1,876 new cases represents a 55 percent increase over Wednesday’s 1,205 cases. The county has a total of 199,072 confirmed cases and 3,706 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 9.30% to 9.16%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 7.08%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” Dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 857 additional confirmed cases and 11 new deaths. The county now has a known total of 93,514 cases and 1,581 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.42% to 8.88%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 454 additional confirmed cases and one new death. The county now has 57,361 confirmed cases and 1,620 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.24% to 8.99%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 43 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 2,744 cases and 25 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 12.17% to 13.06%.
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 takes 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 5:16 p.m. Friday, there were 3,129 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This is a decrease from early August, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Wednesday’s hospitalizations, 433 were in Miami-Dade, 307 in Broward, 232 in Palm Beach and six in Monroe, 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 Friday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications slightly decreased from 530 to 529, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Friday’s data, 88 people were discharged and 70 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 51,542 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 Friday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 94,776 people tested on Thursday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 7.34% to 7.95%.
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 2:44 PM.
