Florida adds 6,659 coronavirus cases, pushing state closer to a million
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 6,659 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state closer to the one million mark.
Florida has a total of 999,319 confirmed cases, the third highest number of total confirmed cases in the country after Texas and California, according to the New York Times COVID-19 database.
Also, the state announced 97 resident deaths, bringing the resident toll to 18,597.
One new non-resident death was also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 237, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,962 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one new death, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county has a total of 229,618 confirmed cases and 3,835 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 10.06% to 9.81%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 8.25%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 826 additional confirmed cases and five new deaths. The county now has a known total of 107,524 cases and 1,664 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.28% to 8.56%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 361 additional confirmed cases and 16 new deaths. The county now has 65,372 confirmed cases and 1,694 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.13% to 7.56%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 28 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 3,381 cases and 27 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 8.10% to 7.58%.
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 3 p.m. Monday, there were 4,159 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This is a big jump from what the state was reporting last month though it’s still less than early August, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Monday’s hospitalizations, 644 were in Miami-Dade, 422 in Broward, 293 in Palm Beach and nine 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 Monday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications increased from 746 to 796, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 59 people were discharged and 102 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 54,864 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 Monday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 87,739 people tested on Sunday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 7.86% to 8.40%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate increased from 10.06% to 11%, according to the report.
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Florida adds 6,659 coronavirus cases, pushing state closer to a million."
