Average daily case count hits three-month low

Florida reported 3,141 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, sending the 7-day average to its lowest level in three months as the delta surge seemed all but over, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The state also increased its COVID-related death count by three on Saturday. Deaths are counted on the day they occur, not the day they are reported and can take up to two weeks or more to be reflected in the data. The Sun Sentinel calculates the daily change in the state’s total death county for its analysis.

The average for new cases is down to 3,403 as of Saturday and the average for deaths based on the date reported held at 200, unchanged for the third consecutive days. There have been more than 3.6 million confirmed cases of COVID in the state and at least 56,413 Floridians have died since the start of the pandemic.

Hospitalizations also continued to drop. As of Friday, 3,867 patients were in Florida hospitals with

COVID-19, a 24.9% decline from the previous week and the fewest patients since mid-July.

Here are the latest statistics:

The CDC on Tuesday updated its county-by county COVID numbers, which it has released weekly. South Florida counties have among the lowest cases per capita in the state, this week’s data shows. The statistics are for the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3.

Over the previous week: Palm Beach County saw a

19% drop in cases and a 43% drop in deaths;

Broward County saw a

19% drop in cases and a 15% drop in deaths;

Miami-Dade County saw a

33% drop in cases and a 35% drop;

Orange County saw a 27% drop in cases and a 54% drop in deaths.

Florida continues to drop in rankings of cases per capita, falling to 47th as of Saturday, according to New York Times data. The data shows 17 COVID cases per

100,000 population in Florida. Alaska ranked first with

110 average cases per 100,000 as of Oct. 9.

After ranking first for several weeks among states in deaths per capita, Florida has dropped to 8th as of Saturday, the Times data shows, with 0.91 deaths per

100,000 residents. Idaho ranked first as of Oct. 9 with

1.71 deaths per 100,000. Florida’s positivity rate has been declining since mid-August, a further indication the state may have passed the peak of the delta surge. The state releases positivity data weekly.