COVID in Florida leaps by 11,543 cases and 210 deaths. Miami-Dade tops 380,000 cases
Florida’s Department of Health on Friday confirmed 11,543 additional cases of COVID-19 — the most since last Saturday. The state’s known total is now 1,763,873.
Florida is the third-highest state in the country in terms of cases after California and Texas, according to the New York Times database of U.S. cases.
Additionally, the state announced 210 resident deaths to bring the resident death toll to 27,457.
Florida added five non-residents deaths to bring the total non-resident deaths to 456. The state’s cumulative number of deaths is now 27,913.
Miami-Dade has now topped 380,000 cases. Friday’s addition of more than 2,700 new novel coronavirus cases is the most in the county since Jan. 26. Broward added its most cases since last Saturday.
Coronavirus vaccines in Florida
According to the state’s Friday COVID-19 vaccination report, 1,339,707 people received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 554,502 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. According to the state, that means 1,894,209 have been vaccinated.
Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 81,547 were Miami-Dade County residents, 47,667 were Broward residents, 44,048 were Palm Beach residents and 2,570 were Monroe residents.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,717 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 380,716 confirmed cases and 4,964 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.74% to 7.3%.
▪ Broward County reported 1,175 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 11 new deaths. The county has a known total of 177,319 cases and 2,150 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 9.36% to 5.97%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 889 additional confirmed cases and 11 new deaths. The county now has 110,108 confirmed cases and 2,249 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 9.82% to 5.96%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 30 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,455 cases and 41 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 8.67% to 3.78%.
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 p.m. Friday, there were 5,428 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. While hospitalizations are showing a 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 Friday’s hospitalizations, 831 were in Miami-Dade, 612 in Broward, 375 in Palm Beach and six in Monroe, according to the agency. The numbers of hospitalizations have been on a downward trend.
The state has had a total of 73,970 Florida residents hospitalized for COVID-19-related complications, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
Coronavirus testing in Florida
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 Friday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 188,596 people tested on Thursday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) decreased from 8.76% to 5.8%.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 2:37 PM.
