Miami-Dade continues streak of over 2K COVID Cases. State adds 11,015 cases
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 11,015 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,212,581. Also, 112 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident toll to 20,680.
There were three new non-resident deaths, pushing the non-resident toll to 296, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,297 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 31 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 276,414 confirmed cases and 4,097 deaths, making Miami-Dade the fourth-highest county in the country in COVID-19 cases, after Los Angeles, Cook (Chicago) and Maricopa (Phoenix) counties, according to Johns Hopkins national COVID-19 database. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 8.28% to 8.43%.
▪ Broward County reported 917 additional confirmed cases and eight new deaths. The county’s known total is now at 128,157 cases and 1,784 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 6.89% to 6.52%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 639 additional confirmed cases and 16 new deaths. The county has 77,241 confirmed cases and 1,835 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 6.68% to 6.84%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 30 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 4,040 cases and 33 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 2.71% to 4.87%.
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.
As of 5 p.m. Monday, there were 5,512 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This number is at mid-August levels, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Monday’s hospitalizations, 1,003 were in Miami-Dade, 514 in Broward, 303 in Palm Beach and six in Monroe, according to the agency.
The state has had a total of 60,152 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 145,728 people tested on Sunday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 7.98% to 8.45%.
If retests are included, the positivity rate increased from 10.06% to 10.83%.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Miami-Dade continues streak of over 2K COVID Cases. State adds 11,015 cases."
