Florida sees more than 11,000 COVID-19 cases and surpasses 26,000 deaths, state says
Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 11,423 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,687,594. Also, 202 resident deaths were announced, leading the resident death toll to surpass 26,000 at 26,035.
Five new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the cumulative non-resident toll to 421. The state’s total death toll is 26,456.
The Sunshine State has the third-highest case total after California and Texas and the fourth-highest death toll in the country, after New York, California and Texas, according to the New York Times database of U.S. cases.
According to the state’s Thursday COVID-19 vaccine report, 1,319,822 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 247,330 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 37,212 were Miami-Dade residents, 24,468 were Broward residents, 14,837 were Palm Beach residents and 462 were Monroe residents.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,004 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 29 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 366,127 confirmed cases and 4,797 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 8.10% to 7.06%. The 14-day percent positivity average on Wednesday was 8.72%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 1,038 additional confirmed cases of the disease and seven new deaths. The county has a known total of 169,691 cases and 2,069 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 8.66% to 7.33%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 831 additional confirmed cases and 13 new deaths. The county now has 104,693 confirmed cases and 2,152 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 9.19% to 7.96%%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 44 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,262 cases and 40 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 9.64% to 6.64%.
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 3:16 p.m. Thursday, there were 6,567 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This is near mid-August levels, when more than 7,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted daily into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Thursday’s hospitalizations, 975 were in Miami-Dade, 626 in Broward, 419 in Palm Beach and five 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 Wednesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 1,087 to 1,086, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Wednesday’s data, 129 people were discharged and 100 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 71,535 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 174,453 people tested on Wednesday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) decreased from 10.18% to 7.70%.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Florida sees more than 11,000 COVID-19 cases and surpasses 26,000 deaths, state says."
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