Florida reports 11,699 new COVID-19 cases, most since July, as total deaths near 20,000
Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 11,699 more confirmed cases Friday, replacing Thursday’s case total as the most since July 25, and puts the state’s death toll at 19,977.
On July 25, Florida reported 12,199 new cases, ending a run of nine of 11 days with five-figure new case totals. Friday makes five of the last nine days with new case totals at 10,000 or above.
With another 123 resident deaths and three non-resident deaths, the state’s pandemic totals now sit at 1,106,396 cases, 19,714 resident deaths and 19,977 total deaths.
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.
The state’s average daily positive test rate is 7.93% over the last seven days, compared with 8.23% the previous seven days.
Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,120 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the known total to 253,403, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county also added 16 deaths to bring the toll to 3,959.
The single day positive test rate for new cases fell to 7.91% from 8.60%. The average daily positive rate, according to the state’s county-by-county report, was 8.22% for the last seven days after being at 9.54% the previous seven days.
▪ Broward County reported 987 more confirmed cases and seven new deaths. Broward now has a known total of 118,512 cases and 1,728 deaths, according to the health department. The single-day positive test rate was 6.37% and the average daily positive rate for the last seven days was 7.31%, down from 7.83% the previous seven days.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 725 additional confirmed cases and 10 new deaths, the health department said. The county now has 71,691 confirmed cases and 1,766 deaths. The single-day positive test rate increased to 7.85%, but the average daily positive test rate for the last seven days was 7.26%, down from 7.60% for the previous seven days.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 40 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 3,770 cases and 28 deaths.
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 4 p.m. Friday, there were 4,624 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 Friday’s hospitalizations, 812 were in Miami-Dade, 430 in Broward, 277 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 jumped by 25 patients to 865, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. There were 182 novel coronavirus patients in Intensive Care Units, down eight from the previous day but up 18 from a week ago.
According to Friday’s data, 101 people were discharged and 93 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 57,728 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 133,046 residents tested on Thursday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 7.9%.
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 7:32 PM.
