Florida adds more than 150 COVID deaths, pushing toll past 23,000, and 11,576 new cases
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 11,576 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,488,586. Also, 159 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 23,071.
Four new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 353, bringing the total deaths in the state to 23,424, the fourth-highest death toll in the country, after New York, Texas, and California, according to the New York Times database of U.S. cases.
According to the state’s Monday COVID-19 vaccine report, 587,956 people have been vaccinated in Florida — with 39,988 people completing the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,094 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 28 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county has now had 328,701 confirmed cases and 4,441 deaths.The percent positivity for new cases increased from 8.62% to 8.92%.
▪ Broward County reported 1,153 additional confirmed cases and eight new deaths. The county’s known total is now at 151,524 cases and 1,928 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 8.58% to 8.61%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 831 additional confirmed cases and 17 new deaths. The county has 92,542 confirmed cases and 1,972 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases increased from 8.57% to 8.85%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 23 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 4,719 cases and 36 deaths. The percent positivity for new cases decreased from 12.35% to 9.32%.
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 2:30 p.m. Monday, there were 7,650 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, 1,105 were in Miami-Dade, 642 in Broward, 436 in Palm Beach and four in Monroe, according to the agency.
The state has had a total of 65,796 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 128,795 people tested on Sunday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 10.42% to 10.60%.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Florida adds more than 150 COVID deaths, pushing toll past 23,000, and 11,576 new cases."
