Florida reports its most daily COVID cases

The Florida Department of Health said there were 17,192 additional cases, the state’s biggest number for one day.

Florida ended the year on Thursday with state health officials reporting a record number of COVID-19 cases — an additional 17,192 cases — the highest number recorded on a single day after a testing surge fueled by the holiday season.

The state saw near-record numbers of test results reported on Wednesday (about 180,000 people) and Thursday (about 166,500 people). The percentage of tests coming back positive was 8.7% on Wednesday and 11.6% on Thursday, close to and slightly above the two-week average

of around 11.5%.

While testing overall has increased, the month of December has also brought a concerning rise in the percentage of tests coming back positive for people being tested for the first time. That percentage had been in the 10% to 15% range for much of the fall but has climbed above 25% in recent weeks. Most health experts say positivity rates should be 5% or lower to slow community transmission.

Previously, the highest single-day count recorded was 15,300 cases in July. The state did see more cases on Nov. 27 — but that was because no reports had been issued on Thanksgiving Day.

Florida has now confirmed a total of 1,323,315 cases. Also, 127 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident toll to 21,673. Six new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the non-resident toll to 317.

●Miami- Dade County reported 2,937 additional cases and 19 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county has had 298,873 confirmed cases and 4,188 deaths. The positivity for new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 6.97% to 9.92%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 9.68%.

●Broward County reported 1,572 additional cases and seven new deaths. The county’s known total is at 137,610 cases and 1,847 deaths. The positivity for new cases increased from 6.52% to 9.80%.

●Palm Beach County saw 991 additional cases and 14 new deaths. The county has 82,890 confirmed cases and 1,895 deaths. The positivity for new cases increased from 7.07% to 9.90%.

●Monroe County confirmed 29 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 4,226 cases and 35 deaths. The positivity for new cases increased from 3.15% to 8.25%%.

On Thursday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of

166,439 people tested on Wednesday. The positivity rate of new cases increased from 8.74% to 11.57%.

If retests are included, the positivity rate increased from 10.03% to 13.27%.

According to Thursday’s vaccine report, the state has given 211,165 people the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

As of 2:45 p.m. Thursday, there were 6,363 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals in the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This number is at mid-August levels, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals.

Of Thursday’s hospitalizations, 562 were in Broward, 357 in Palm Beach and three in Monroe, according to the agency.

On Thursday, Miami

Dade hospitalizations increased from 1,078 to 1,090, according to the county’s New Normal dashboard. According to Thursday’s data, 149 people were discharged and

111 people were admitted.

The state has had a total of 62,868 Florida residents hospitalized for COVID-19related complications, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.