Florida COVID update for Friday: 7,617 new cases and 183 deaths
Florida’s Department of Health on Friday confirmed 7,617 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,814,422.
Also, 183 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 28,382. Seven new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident coronavirus toll to 496. The cumulative state death total is 28,878, the fourth-highest in the country after California, New York and Texas, according to the New York Times database of cases.
As of Friday, total long-term care deaths reached 10,034, with the majority involving residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, the News Service of Florida reported.
Long-term care facilities were linked to about 35% of Floridian deaths from COVID-19.
Vaccines in Florida
According to the state’s Friday COVID-19 vaccine report, 1,262,300 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 963,004 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. That means 2,225,304 people have been vaccinated.
Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 119,889 were Miami-Dade residents, 92,829 were Broward residents, 90,553 were Palm Beach residents and 4,491 were Monroe residents.
According to Friday’s New York Times vaccine rollout map, 10.4% of Floridians have been given at least one dose of the COVID vaccines and 4.5% have received two doses.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,643 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 40 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 391,162 confirmed cases and 5,121 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 6.69% to 6.20%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 6.94%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.
▪ Broward County reported 805 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 11 new deaths. The county has a known total of 183,224 cases and 2,229 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 6.82% to 6.45%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 493 additional confirmed cases and 13 new deaths. The county now has 113,457 confirmed cases and 2,315 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 5.68% to 6.36%.
▪ Monroe County confirmed 13 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,541 cases and 42 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 3.28% to 2.79%.
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 1:17 p.m. Friday, there were 4,812 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of Friday’s hospitalizations, 777 were in Miami-Dade, 584 in Broward, 351 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 Friday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 889 to 858, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Friday’s data, 149 people were discharged and 83 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 75,734 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 Friday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 144,159 people tested on Thursday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 6.17% to 6.22%.
This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 2:23 PM.
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