Florida COVID resident death toll nears 28,000, and state confirms 5,737 new cases
Florida’s Department of Health on Monday confirmed 5,737 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,783,720. Also, 120 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 27,816.
Seven new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 472.
According to the state’s Monday COVID-19 vaccine report, 1,322,426 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 693,865 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 95,068 were Miami-Dade residents, 60,801 were Broward residents, 59,154 were Palm Beach residents and 3,327 were Monroe residents.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,370 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 28 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 384,971 confirmed cases and 5,039 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 6.95% to 7.42%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 7.83%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 797 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 16 new deaths. The county has a known total of 179,745 cases and 2,185 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.12% to 8.40%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 413 additional confirmed cases and 19 new deaths. The county now has 111,437 confirmed cases and 2,269 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 5.36% to 6.75%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed seven additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,487 cases and 42 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 4.86% to 4.29%.
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 3:43 p.m. Monday, there were 5,381 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of Monday’s hospitalizations, 840 were in Miami-Dade, 637 in Broward, 400 in Palm Beach and three 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 by 10, from 905 to 915, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Monday’s data, 74 people were discharged and 79 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 74,543 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 Monday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 92,430 people tested on Sunday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 6.80% to 7.37%.
This article will be updated.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Florida COVID resident death toll nears 28,000, and state confirms 5,737 new cases."
