COVID-19 resident death toll surpasses 20,000 in Florida, and state adds 8,452 cases
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday announced 137 new resident deaths, bringing the statewide resident toll to past 20,000. The news comes on the same day that Florida received its first batch of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines.
Florida has now confirmed 20,003 COVID-related deaths in residents. One new non-resident death was also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 268.
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday also confirmed 8,452 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,134,383, 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 2,281 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 21 new deaths on Monday, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 260,138 confirmed cases and 4,002 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 9.38% to 9.12%.
▪ Broward County reported 674 additional confirmed cases and six new deaths on Monday. The county has a known total of 120,840 cases and 1,747 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.16% to 7.53%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 371 additional confirmed cases and six new deaths on Monday. The county has 73,079 confirmed cases and 1,774 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 6.07% to 5.67%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 18 additional cases and no new deaths on Monday. The county has a known total of 3,839 cases and 28 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 6.41% to 5.05%.
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 5:01 p.m. Monday, there were 4,932 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 it’s nearing the record levels of early August, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Monday’s hospitalizations, 875 were in Miami-Dade, 487 in Broward, 291 in Palm Beach and three in Monroe, according to the agency.
The state has had a total of 58,269 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 114,942 people tested on Monday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 7.90% to 8.34%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate increased from 10.38% to 10.62%, according to the report.
This article will be updated.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 3:08 PM with the headline "COVID-19 resident death toll surpasses 20,000 in Florida, and state adds 8,452 cases."
