Florida adds 5,730 COVID cases, lowest since November, and more than 200 deaths
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 5,730 additional cases of COVID-19, the lowest single-day count since November. The state’s known total is now at 1,727,107, making it the third-highest state in the country, after California and Texas, according to the New York Times database of U.S. cases.
Additionally, the state announced 206 resident deaths, bringing the resident death toll to 26,685.
Eight new non-resident deaths were also announced Monday, bringing the non-resident toll to 444 and the state’s cumulative number of deaths to 27,129.
Monday’s single-day case count was the lowest reported since Nov. 12, when 5,607 cases were added. Testing was down that week because of test-site closings related to Tropical Storm Eta’s lingering floods. Testing was also down Monday — and the percent positivity saw some increase.
Testing, like hospitalizations, helps officials determine the virus’ progress and plays a role in deciding whether it is safe to 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 81,136 people tested on Sunday, the lowest number of people tested in the past two weeks. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 5.54% to 8.39%.
As for the state’s COVID-19 vaccination progress, 1,379,346 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 328,346 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, according to Monday’s report.
Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 53,350 were Miami-Dade County residents, 31,738 were Broward residents, 20,790 were Palm Beach residents and 557 were Monroe residents.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,303 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 31 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 373,423 confirmed cases and 4,905 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 5.56% to 7.72%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 8.44%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 788 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 23 new deaths. The county has a known total of 173,652 cases and 2,115 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 5.60% to 8.72%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 377 additional confirmed cases and one new death. The county now has 107,619 confirmed cases and 2,167 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 5.42% to 8.09%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed three additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,372 cases and 40 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 5.82% to 2.58%.
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 6,142 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. While hospitalizations are showing a slight decrease, this is still near mid-August levels, when more than 7,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted daily into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Monday’s hospitalizations, 930 were in Miami-Dade, 653 in Broward, 396 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 Monday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications increased from 982 to 1,011, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 88 people were discharged and 103 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 72,454 Florida residents hospitalized for COVID-19-related complications, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
Miami Herald staff writer Carli Teproff contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Florida adds 5,730 COVID cases, lowest since November, and more than 200 deaths."
