State sees lowest rate of new virus cases in 2 months

The spread of COVID-19 is easing in Florida, with the statewide rate for new infections dipping to its lowest point within the past two months, according to the latest state figures.

The statewide testing positivity rate was 6.8% based on Wednesday’s results, which were released Thursday by the Florida Department of Health. That’s the lowest since it was 5.3% on June 14.

One of the key data points about prevalence of the highly infectious disease is positivity — the percentage of people who test positive out of the total number of tests on one day of results. The state’s figure is for new cases only and doesn’t count people who previously tested positive.

In South Florida, the daily positivity rates were 7.28% for Broward, a slight increase from the previous day’s 6%; 9.65% for Miami-Dade, down from 9.73%; and 5.23% for Palm Beach County, down from 5.71% the prior day.

Those figures are a key reason Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday said he’s considering moving the region to a Phase 2 reopening, following the April shutdown. It would mean more relaxed rules for restaurants, stores and attractions.

Public health experts say the virus is under control when the rate is 5% or below. The state says its “target range” is below 10%.

From June 15 through the end of July, Florida regularly had positivity rates above 10%, and even hit 15% or higher on several days.

Positivity has been below 10% for the last nine days after a backlog of results for Aug. 11 is taken out of the equation.

In Thursday’s report, the state indicated that it processed 77,172 COVID-19 test results over the previous day.

Yet another calculation, which includes retests of people who were previously diagnosed, shows a positivity rate of 9.98% based on the latest results.

That’s the lowest it has been since it was 9.75% on June 15, records show.

Other improving trends include a continuous decline in hospitalizations for COVID-19, and fewer people showing up at hospital emergency rooms with symptoms.

But all of this news comes after the virus has devastated thousands of lives and families in Florida, which has one of the highest death tolls and case totals in the

United States.

The latest official state data show 119 more reported deaths on Thursday, for a pandemic total of 10,186. That’s a drop from the 174 deaths reported Wednesday, and the 219 deaths on Tuesday’s official report. These are people who died in recent weeks but whose deaths were recently added to the state figures.

The state also listed an additional 4,555 confirmed infections, which is the fifth straight day of fewer than 5,000 cases.

For most of July, Florida reported over 10,000 cases per day, with a peak of 15,300 infections on July 12.

The cases reported on a single day follow a lag between the collection of swabs over several days and the confirmation of positive

results.

South Florida

South Florida, which accounts for 29% of Florida’s population, reported 1,827 new cases in the past day, or 40.1% of the daily total for the state.

Broward County: 534 new coronavirus cases were reported Thursday, bringing the total to 68,068. The median age of Florida residents infected in the county is 39. A total of 1,077 people in Broward have died from the virus, two more than reported Wednesday.

Palm Beach County: 224 new cases, bringing the total to 39,886. The median age of those infected in the county is 41. A total of 1,055 people have died, 17 more than reported the previous day.

Miami-Dade County: 1,069 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 149,162. The median age of those infected in the county is 43. A total of 2,201 people have died. That’s 19 more than reported Wednesday.

Testing and positivity rate

A total of 4.34 million people have been swabbed in Florida since the pandemic began, producing a positivity rate of 13.55%.

The state reports that 588,602 people have tested positive, and 3.74 million people have tested negative. At the end of May, Florida’s overall positivity rate was about 5.6%.

In South Florida, the overall positivity rates based on testing to date are 19.5% for Miami-Dade County, 14.3% for Broward, and 13.2% for Palm Beach County.

Hospitalizations Across the state, 5,068 people were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 as of noon Thursday. The state’s online report updates several times throughout the day.

The number of people in hospitals for COVID-19 has been declining this month as has the number of people in intensive care units. The total hospitalized for the disease two weeks ago was about 7,440; and four weeks ago, it was about 9,430.

In South Florida, 1,949 people were hospitalized as of Thursday afternoon. Broward County reported 690, Palm Beach County had 308, and Miami-Dade had 951, the most in the state.

These figures also represent declines. One week ago, Broward County hospitals had 867 patients with the virus, Palm Beach County had 387 and Miami-Dade had 1,292, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

A different report, from the state health department, shows 35,650 Florida residents have been hospitalized since the start of the pandemic. That’s an increase of 8,678 patients since Aug. 1, when the total was 26,972 hospitalizations.

Deaths

Statewide: The official COVID-19 report, updated Thursday, shows 10,049 Florida resident deaths plus 137 nonresidents who died in the state.

COVID-19 is the state’s deadliest infectious disease. Throughout 2019, there were 2,703 deaths attributed to the flu and pneumonia in Florida, records show.

Seniors: At least 4,232 deaths have occurred among residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, a figure that represents 42.1% of the state total for coronavirus deaths of residents.

Miami-Dade County has the highest number of long-term care facility deaths, with 666, or 15.7% of the total. Palm Beach County has had 435 deaths, or 10.3%, and Broward accounted for 314 deaths, or 7.4%.

Nationwide: Florida’s death rate ranks 16th in the United States when compared with other states and the District of Columbia, with 47 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s COVID Data Tracker.

The CDC does not list a death rate for New York State that includes New York City. The data for just New York City, the nation’s original coronavirus epicenter, shows 281 deaths per 100,000 people. For New York State, excluding the city, it’s 80 deaths per 100,000.

Texas has 37 deaths per 100,000, and California has 29. California and Texas are the most populous states, followed by Florida and New York. The Data Tracker does not show death rates for Florida cities.

Global view

Worldwide: The novel coronavirus has infected 22.5 million people and has killed at least 789,455 worldwide as of about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

U.S.: The United States has more than 5.5 million cases, the highest total in the world, with at least 173,626 deaths, the most fatalities of any country. The U.S. has 4.3% of the world’s population, but 24.7 of the world’s cases and 22% of the world’s deaths.

Other countries with high COVID-19 death tolls are Brazil with 111,110, Mexico with 58,481, India with 53,866, United Kingdom with 41,489, and Italy with 35,418.