Florida adds 7,537 COVID cases, 160 deaths. Positivity dips except in Palm Beach County
Florida’s Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed 7,537 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,798,280.
Also, 160 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 28,208.
Five new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 483 and the cumulative state non-resident total to 28,691.
Vaccines in Florida
According to the state’s Wednesday COVID-19 vaccine report, 1,287,668 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 823,126 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. That means 2,110,794 people have been vaccinated.
Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 107,800 were Miami-Dade residents, 78,506 were Broward residents, 77,988 were Palm Beach residents and 3,917 were Monroe residents.
According to a New York Times vaccine rollout map, 9.4% of Floridians have been given at least one dose of the COVID vaccines and 3.2% received two doses as of Tuesday.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,515 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and four new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 387,940 confirmed cases and 5,062 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 6.72% to 6.44%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 7.59%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 926 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 10 new deaths. The county has a known total of 181,427 cases and 2,202 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.24% to 6.74%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 551 additional confirmed cases and 17 new deaths. The county now has 112,367 confirmed cases and 2,294 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 5.6% to 7.28%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 10 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,515 cases and 42 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.57% to 3.79%.
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 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, there were 5,244 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of Wednesday’s hospitalizations, 817 were in Miami-Dade, 643 in Broward, 375 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 Wednesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 935 to 903., according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Wednesday’s data, 131 people were discharged and 68 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 75,162 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 Wednesday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 113,123 people tested on Tuesday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) decreased from 6.93% to 6.59%.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Florida adds 7,537 COVID cases, 160 deaths. Positivity dips except in Palm Beach County."
