Florida adds 11,335 COVID-19 cases, the most since July, and the most deaths in months
Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 11,335 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,094,697. That’s the most new cases in a single-day report not only since Thanksgiving gatherings but since July 25. That’s when the pandemic was in a peak period and the state had reported 12,199 cases.
Also, 129 new resident deaths were announced Thursday, bringing the statewide resident toll to 19,591.
That’s the highest number of deaths reported in a single day since Oct. 15, when 141 were reported.
Six new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 260. Six is also the highest single-day number reported since early summer.
Florida’s total case count is the third highest in the country, after California and Texas, according to the New York Times database of U.S. cases.
Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,240 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the known total to 251,283, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county also added 13 deaths to bring the toll to 3,943. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.69% to 8.55%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 8.81%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” Dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 1,097 additional confirmed cases and one new death. The county now has a known total of 117,525 cases and 1,721 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.74% to 7.35%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 652 additional confirmed cases and 11 new deaths. The county now has 70,966 confirmed cases and 1,756 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.35% to 6.97%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 67 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 3,730 cases and 28 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 6.28% to 5.81%.
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 2:45 p.m. Thursday, there were 4,550 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 and approaching early August, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Thursday’s hospitalizations, 792 were in Miami-Dade, 415 in Broward, 300 in Palm Beach and four 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 Thursday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 847 to 840, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Thursday’s data, 118 people were discharged and 87 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 57,468 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 Thursday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 139,689 people tested on Wednesday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) decreased from 8.62% to 8.04%.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 2:52 PM.
