South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
An Independence Day like no other
Virus numbers pass 11,000 in a day in Florida to set record
Florida once again has shattered its daily coronavirus infections record. On Saturday, the state reported 11,458 new cases, soaring past the previous record of 10,109 positive tests, logged on Thursday.
Through mid-June, Florida’s case numbers had been holding steady with about 1,500 new infections reported daily when the pandemic was taking hold of a state largely in lock-down .
But three weeks ago, the daily case total jumped to 2,581. And then infections exceeded 3,000 in a day, and then 4,000, and then
5,000 and onward. Saturday’s
11,458 positives were a 13.3% increase on Thursday’s previous high-water mark.
The increases have also been measured in the more serious manifestations of COVID-19 in the state. Since Thursday, the
Marvin Turcios puts out American flags Saturday at Ocean’s 10 restaurant on Miami Beach.
state has reported 965 new hospitalizations for people with coronavirus. Exactly a month earlier, a three-day period had fewer than half that many admissions (429).
In spite of the skyrocketing number of cases and an increase in hospitalizations, the state reported
18 new deaths Saturday morning. On Friday, 67 new deaths were reported. The total deaths in Florida as of Saturday morning is 3,803.
The greatest number of deaths in the United States is in New York with its 32,137 deaths, followed by New Jersey, which has recorded 15,107, though Florida has moved past New Jersey in the number of positive cases.
As of Saturday, Florida has the fourth-highest number of cases, behind New York, California and Texas. Florida reported 65,271 news tests were conducted since Friday’s report and about 17.5 percent came back positive.
Across the country, 129,476 people have died from the contagious disease.
World-wide, there are more than 11.3 million cases of
COVID-19. The United States tops the charts with its 2.8 million cases followed by 1.5 million cases in Brazil.
Closer to home, South Florida’s
75,053 cases represent 40 percent of the state’s cases. All 67 counties have at least 10 confirmed cases, though a dozen counties have managed to not have any deaths as result of the virus.
Miami-Dade continues to have the most cases in the state. As of Saturday, Miami-Dade has 44,729 positive cases, 1,053 deaths and
4,167 hospitalizations. Broward is a distant second at
19,575. There have been 431 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Broward and 2,301 hospitalizations.
Palm Beach follows Broward for statewide totals with 16,149 cases. The number of deaths in Palm Beach associated with the disease is 555. The hospitalizations for Palm Beach stand at
1,906 as of Saturday.
The surge in cases has led cities across Florida to tamp down on Fourth of July activities and close beaches as younger people are making up the bulk of cases.
In Florida, people ages 25 to 34 make up 21 percent of the total cases though they account for just
6 percent of the hospitalizations and 1 percent of the deaths. While those 65 and older make up 85 percent of all the deaths in Florida and more than half of all hospitalizations, that demographic makes up only 14 percent of all cases.