Florida reports highest number of COVID-19 cases in a day with 17,192 confirmed
Florida ended the year on Thursday with state health officials reporting a record number of COVID-19 cases — an additional 17,192 cases — the highest number recorded on a single day since the pandemic began after the a testing surge fueled by the Christmas holiday.
The state saw near-record numbers of test results reported on Wednesday (about 180,000 people) and Thursday (about 166,500 people). The percentage of tests coming back positive was 8.7% on Wednesday and 11.6% on Thursday close to and slightly above the two-week average of around 11.5%.
While testing overall has increased, the month of December has also brought a concerning rise in the percentage of tests coming back positive for people being tested for the first time. That percentage had been in the 10% to 15% range for much of the fall but has climbed above 25% in recent weeks. Most health experts say positivity rates should be 5% or lower to slow community transmission.
Previously, the highest single-day count recorded was 15,300 cases in July. The state did see more cases on Nov. 27 — but that was because no reports had been issued on Thanksgiving Day. Thursday’s single day case count also beats Wednesday’s total, which was the most reported since July.
Florida has now confirmed a total of 1,323,315 cases. Also, 127 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident toll to 21,673. Six new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 317.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,937 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 19 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county has now had 298,873 confirmed cases and 4,188 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 6.97% to 9.92%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 9.68%.
▪ Broward County reported 1,572 additional confirmed cases and seven new deaths. The county’s known total is now at 137,610 cases and 1,847 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 6.52% to 9.80%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 991 additional confirmed cases and 14 new deaths. The county has 82,890 confirmed cases and 1,895 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.07% to 9.90%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 29 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 4,226 cases and 35 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 3.15% to 8.25%%.
COVID-19 Vaccines in Florida
Florida is currently giving vaccines to healthcare workers, long-term care facility residents and staff, and people 65 and older, including snowbirds. Some hospitals, including in South Florida, have begun giving the vaccines to people 65 and older. Vaccination sites also opened across the state this week, with Broward set to open its first sites this weekend.
Miami-Dade County has also created a new website to help seniors, and eventually the rest of the general public, find and schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments.
According to Thursday’s vaccine report, the state has given 211,165 people the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Currently the two vaccines that are available , Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, require two doses. The vaccines do not give you COVID-19.
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 6,363 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 Thursday’s hospitalizations, 1,011 were in Miami-Dade, 562 in Broward, 357 in Palm Beach and three 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 increased from 1,078 to 1,090, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Thursday’s data, 149 people were discharged and 111 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 62,868 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 166,439 people tested on Wednesday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 8.74% to 11.57%.
If retests are included, the positivity rate increased from 10.03% to 13.27%.
This breaking news article will be updated.
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 2:44 PM.
