Florida’s COVID-19 death toll surpasses 9,000
Florida’s Department of Health on Friday confirmed 6,178 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s known total to 563,315. An additional 228 Florida resident deaths were also announced, bring the statewide resident death toll to 9,141.
The two daily reports released by the health department with statewide and county-by-county COVID-19 data reported different resident death counts early Friday.
The state report listed a total of 9,141 resident deaths (228 new deaths compared to Thursday’s report) while the county-by-county report listed a total of 9,133 resident deaths (220 new deaths compared to Thursday’s report).
The Florida Department of Health confirmed to the Miami Herald that the correct total was 9,141. The county report has since been updated.
One new non-resident death was also announced Friday, bringing the nonresident death toll to 135.
CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES IN SOUTH FLORIDA
Miami-Dade County reported 1,683 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 45 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 142,667 confirmed cases and 1,999 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 10.9%
Broward County reported 636 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 31 new deaths. The county now has a known total of 65,377 cases and 914 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 7.6%
Palm Beach County saw 367 additional confirmed cases and 12 new deaths. The county now has 38,575 confirmed cases and 976 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 6.5%
Monroe County reported 26 additional cases of the disease and no new deaths, according to the health department. The Florida Keys now have 1,603 confirmed cases and 13 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 10.5%
Here’s a breakdown on what you need to know:
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 take 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 acutecare beds, which require less attention from nurses.
Previously, the state was only providing the total number of hospitalizations in its statewide and countylevel data. Miami-Dade was an exception, with hospitals self-reporting a number of key metrics, including hospitalizations, to the county, which has made this data public for several months.
As of 6:01 p.m. Friday, there were 5,893
COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 1,203 were in Miami-Dade, 769 in Broward, 363 in Palm Beach and 8 in Monroe counties, 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 1,498 to 1,402, according to MiamiDade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Friday’s data, 168 people were discharged and 76 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 33,155 Florida residents hospitalized for COVID-19related 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 then use the testing data to create a positive rate. The rate helps them determine if a rise in cases is because of an increase in testing, or if it means there’s increased transmission of the virus in the community.
On Friday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of
89,084 people tested on Thursday. The positive rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 8.08%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positive rate for Thursday’s testing was 10.70% of the total, according to the report.
In total, 5,562,499 tests have been conducted. To date, 4,168,103 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 563,285 (13.51%) have tested positive. The state says there are 3,718 tests with pending results.