Florida adds 15,019 COVID-19 cases, 106 deaths as testing jumps and positivity drops
Florida’s Department of Health on Saturday confirmed 15,019 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,713,589. Also, 106 resident deaths were announced, moving the resident death toll to 26,360.
The state added the most cases since Jan. 15 when 16,875 were reported.
Four new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the cumulative non-resident toll to 435. The state’s total death toll is 26,795.
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.
After the positivity percentages doubled statewide from Wednesday to Thursday, positivity rates dropped from over 14% to single digit numbers in Saturday’s report. The number of tests statewide also jumped from 75,179 on Thursday to 222,516 on Friday.
According to the state’s Saturday COVID-19 vaccine report, 1,354,584 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 296,782 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 46,593 were Miami-Dade residents, 29,971 were Broward residents, 18,845 were Palm Beach residents and 519 were Monroe residents.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,505 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 28 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 370,642 confirmed cases and 4,845 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 14.77%. to 5.72%. The 14-day percent positivity was 8.80%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 1,373 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 11 new deaths. The county has a known total of 172,082 cases and 2,082 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 13.52% to 6.41%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 1,151 additional confirmed cases and no new deaths. The county now has 106,691 confirmed cases and holds at 2,166 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 12.22% to 6.8%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 44 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,332 cases and 40 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 11.17% to 5.81%.
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 8:31 p.m. Saturday, there were 6,145 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 Saturday’s hospitalizations, 908 were in Miami-Dade, 640 in Broward, 410 in Palm Beach and four 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 Saturday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 1,033 to 984, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Friday’s data, 147 people were discharged and 91 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 Saturday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 222,516 people tested on Friday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) decreased from 14.46% to 6.62%.
This story was originally published January 30, 2021 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Florida adds 15,019 COVID-19 cases, 106 deaths as testing jumps and positivity drops."
