Florida adds 11,256 COVID cases — and more than 100 deaths push toll past 22,000
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 11,256 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,376,692. Also, 103 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 22,090.
Two new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 325.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,525 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and five new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county has now had 308,259 confirmed cases and 4,256 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases decreased from 13.07% to 10.97%. The 14-day percent positivity was at 10.36%, according to Miami-Dade’s Moving to a New Normal Dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 983 additional confirmed cases and 10 new deaths. The county’s known total is now at 141,993 cases and 1,882 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 10.34% to 10.45%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 796 additional confirmed cases and 12 new deaths. The county has 86,275 confirmed cases and 1,921 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.58% to 11.74%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 22 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 4,372 cases and 35 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.26% to 7.73%.
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 3 p.m. Monday, there were 7,237 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This number is at August levels, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Monday’s hospitalizations, 1,074 were in Miami-Dade, 600 in Broward, 398 in Palm Beach and 2 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 Monday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications increased from 1,117 to 1,151, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 93 people were discharged and 109 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 63,505 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 104,014 people tested on Sunday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 12.43% to 12.52%.
If retests are included, the positivity rate increased from 14.02% to 14.70%.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 2:31 PM with the headline "Florida adds 11,256 COVID cases — and more than 100 deaths push toll past 22,000."
