Florida adds 8,525 COVID cases, 174 deaths as positivity ticks up in Miami-Dade, Broward
Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 8,525 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,806,805.
Also, 174 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 28,382. Six new non-resident deaths were announced, bringing the non-resident coronavirus toll to 489. The cumulative state total is 28,871.
Vaccines in Florida
According to the state’s Thursday COVID-19 vaccine report, 1,274,170 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 891,741 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. That means 2,165,911 people have been vaccinated.
Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 114,406 were Miami-Dade residents, 84,462 were Broward residents, 85,698 were Palm Beach residents and 4,267 were Monroe residents.
According to Thursday’s New York Times vaccine rollout map, 9.9% of Floridians have been given at least one dose of the COVID vaccines and 3.8% have received two doses.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,579 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 19 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 389,519 confirmed cases and 5,081 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 6.44% to 6.64%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 7.56%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 992 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 16 new deaths. The county has a known total of 182,419 cases and 2,218 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 6.74% to 6.88%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 597 additional confirmed cases and eight new deaths. The county now has 112,964 confirmed cases and 2,302 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.28% to 5.93%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 13 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,528 cases and 42 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 3.79% to 3.5%.
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 10:30 a.m. Thursday, there were 4,916 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of Wednesday’s hospitalizations, 813 were in Miami-Dade, 599 in Broward, 341 in Palm Beach and five 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 903 to 889., according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Wednesday’s data, 131 people were discharged and 82 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 75,454 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 Thursday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 134,632 people tested on Wednesday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) decreased from 6.59% to 6.2%.
This story was originally published February 11, 2021 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Florida adds 8,525 COVID cases, 174 deaths as positivity ticks up in Miami-Dade, Broward."
