Florida reports 4,471 new cases, 77 resident deaths

The Florida Department of Health posted 4,471 new coronavirus cases and 77 new deaths on Saturday.

To date, 776,251 people have been infected statewide, and 16,417 Florida residents have died. With 203 non-resident deaths, the combined toll is 16,620.

There is a lag time between all daily figures reported by the state, which could include cases that are weeks old. COVID-19 deaths, for example, are reported sometimes as much as a month or more after the actual day of death.

Over 5.9 million people have been tested in Florida, with 72,331 more tests reported Saturday compared with the previous day.

Saturday’s report marks the first daily update with more than 70,000 posted tests since July19. However, testing has declined statewide, to a daily average of about 25,000 since September 1. That’s down from about 32,000 daily tests on average in August and 54,400 a day in July.

Statewide, the latest positivity rate reported by the Florida Department of Health was 3.68%, but that’s for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive. For all cases including retests of those previously infected, the latest positivity rate is 4.65%.

Florida has obscured the true extent of its pandemic by using a misleading measure of positive cases to justify reopening schools and businesses, state data indicates. While the state has publicized that its positivity rate has regularly fallen below 5%, other health organizations are publishing data that shows the rate may be dramatically higher.

Central Florida on Saturday added 927 cases for a total of 125,920: 316 new cases in Orange for 44,921; 149 in Polk for 22,481; 74 in Osceola for 13,852; 111 in Volusia for 12,399; 150 in Brevard for 10,999; 81 in Seminole for 10,009; 28 in Lake for 8,415; and 18 in Sumter for 2,844.

Central Florida had 30 of Saturday’s newly reported deaths, bringing the region’s toll to 2,582. Polk County, due to nursinghome outbreaks, has the most coronavirus fatalities in the region with 615, followed by 546 in Orange, 366 in Brevard, 316 in Volusia, 236 in Seminole, 225 in Lake, 194 in Osceola, and 84 in Sumter.

The tolls in Brevard and Lake decreased by one and two, respectively, on Saturday.

Central Florida accounts for over 16% of the cases statewide and nearly 16% of the deaths.

COVID-19 hospitalizations have been steadily falling from mid-July highs of over 8,000. Across the state, 2,169 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of about 10:45 a.m. Saturday. The state’s online tool updates several times throughout the day.

Orange County reported 136 patients hospitalized, Osceola with 71, Seminole with 38, and Lake with 40 as of about 10:45 a.m. Saturday.

To date, 48,127 people have been hospitalized in Florida, the state’s COVID-19 dashboard shows.

South Florida, home to 29% of Florida’s population, accounts for about41% of cases with 315,114. That includes 1,403 new cases reported Saturday among Miami-Dade, Bro ward, and Palm Beach counties.

South Florida’s reported deaths rose by 12 on Saturday for a total of 6,686, about 41% of the state’s total.

The virus has infected over 42 million people and has killed over 1.1 million worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. Nationwide, over 8.4 million people have been infected and over 224,000 are dead.