Florida reports 11,093 new COVID cases as positive rates, hospitalizations trend down
The state of Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 11,093 new cases, as the positive test rates and current hospitalizations headed downward — except not in Miami-Dade.
The case count was the lowest single day total since 10,603 on Jan. 3, also a Sunday. The number of deaths, however, continued a month-long trend of total deaths in the triple digits.
Miami-Dade and Broward added just under one third of the new cases and a tick more than one third of the new deaths.
For the novel coronavirus pandemic, Florida has had 1,571,279 cases, 24,137 resident deaths and 24,515 total deaths.
According to the state’s county-by-county reports, the positive test rate was 9.11% and the average daily positive test rate for the last seven days was 9.74%.
As for vaccinations, the state’s reporting that 915,897 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 shot and 91,819 have received both doses.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
Miami-Dade County reported 2,404 more people who tested positive and 34 more COVID-19 deaths, putting its pandemic totals at 344,246 cases and 4,595 deaths. The positive test rate on Saturday was 9.28%. For the week, the state’s county-by-county breakdown says the average daily positive test rate rose by a baby step, 9.07% from 9.02%.
▪ Broward County reported another 1,172 cases and 12 deaths, moving its totals to 158,762 cases and 1,969 deaths. Broward’s average daily positive test rate was 8.41 the last seven days. For the previous seven days, it was 10.00%. The positive test rate was 8.34% on Saturday.
▪ Palm Beach County reported 799 new cases (97,542 for the pandemic) and three deaths (2,036). And the average daily positive test rate sat at 8.64% for the last seven days. It was 10.52% the previous seven days. Saturday’s positive rate was 7.94%.
▪ Monroe County reported 24 new cases and no deaths. Pandemic totals in the Keys are 4,941 cases and 37 deaths.
Current hospitalizations
Government officials use current hospitalizations to decide the next action in dealing with the pandemic. On the state level, this has been steadily falling over the last month.
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 12:31 p.m. Sunday, the AHCA said there were 7,321 people currently hospitalized, a bunny slide of 21 from 5 p.m. Saturday and a full drop of over 100 from a week ago. Compared to Saturday, Miami-Dade was up 64 to 1,088; Broward was down six to 637; Palm Beach was up four to 427; and Monroe added one to four..
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.
Sunday, Miami-Dade’s New Normal Dashboard reported 1,192 people admitted to the hospital from COVID-19, 68 more than Saturday and 19 more than a week ago. The number of patients in Intensive Care Unit Beds sat at 230, down five from Saturday and up 13 from a week ago.
This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Florida reports 11,093 new COVID cases as positive rates, hospitalizations trend down."
