Florida again reports more than 4,000 new cases of COVID-19

Florida health officials on Tuesday reported 4,298 new cases of COVID-19, continuing a recent upward trend of infections across the state and in South Florida.

At the same time, data show COVID-19 hospitalizations and testing positivity continue to rise, though the totals are far below coronavirus pandemic peaks recorded in July.

Watching the rising numbers, health experts are urging the public to protect themselves and help the state avoid a resurgence of the disease.

In Palm Beach County, Emergency Management Director Bill Johnson told commissioners Tuesday it’s clear the virus is spreading faster than it has since the summer.

“I realize our community has COVID fatigue, but now is not the time to give up on our carefulness,” Johnson said, according to WPEC-CBS12, the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s news partner.

Tuesday marked the third time in the past six days that Florida announced that at least 4,000 more people had tested positive for COVID-19. It’s propelled the daily average up to 3,703 new cases over the past seven days, which is the highest since that figure stood at 3,819 on Aug. 24.

The state Department of Health on Tuesday also said another 57 people have died from COVID-19. These fatalities mostly happened in recent weeks but were just reported to the state in the past day.

Officials last week said they are reviewing all pandemic deaths to ensure that the figures are correct, since some doctors are reporting them up to three months after the death.

For now, the confirmed state death toll stands at 16,709, and the COVID-19 statewide case count is at least 786,311.

South Florida

Broward County: 376 additional confirmed coronavirus cases and no more deaths. The county has a known total of 84,338 cases and 1,549 deaths since the begin

ning of the pandemic. The death tally includes 29 non-residents. The state reduced the county resident death toll by one on Tuesday, for unexplained reasons.

Palm Beach County: 356 additional cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths. The county now has 51,172 confirmed cases and 1,589 deaths, including 24 non-residents.

Miami-Dade County: 727 additional confirmed cases of COVID19 and nine more deaths. The county now has 183,250 confirmed cases and 3,645 deaths, including 21 non-residents.

Testing and positivity rates

The state test positivity rate is above the 5% level by two common measures of assessing the rate. The 5% threshold indicates the point at which public health experts say the virus is though to be under control.

Florida Department of Health: The state reported a daily positivity rate of 6.31% on Tuesday, up from 5.91% on Monday and 4.70% on Sunday. Florida’s method of calculating positivity counts new infections only, but also counts repeat negative tests.

Johns Hopkins University: This measure shows Florida’s positivity rate at 16.3%. at 10.5% for Monday, the latest day reported. Unlike state data, Johns Hopkins University counts only first-time test takers in its positivity rate.

Florida health data show that 6.02 million people in Florida have been swabbed for the virus since March. At least 5.22 million have tested negative. The overall positivity rate in that time is 13.06%.

Officials said Tuesday they will no longer include pandemic totals for testing numbers or positivity on the state’s dashboard or daily reports.

“Moving forward, the daily report will focus on the number of tests reported to the state by day and the corresponding positivity rate by day,” said Jason Mahon, communications director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “The previously reported cumulative number did not reflect the current status of the pandemic in Florida.”

Mahon told the South Florida Sun Sentinel this change follows federal guidance that “will allow public health officials to follow ... trends effectively, and the trends will be useful for local public health decision making.”

According to the state, Tuesday’s case numbers reflect the results of 73,775 COVID-19 tests received from labs in the past day, up from 61,503 results reported Monday. These results include people who have had previous tests.

Broward County: Test results for 6,813 county residents were tallied on Monday and reported Tuesday, producing a daily positivity rate of 5.8% for people with new infections only. That’s down from 6.9% the previous day.

Palm Beach County: Test results for 4,354 county residents were tallied on Monday and reported Tuesday, producing a daily positivity rate of 8.27% for people with new infections only, up from 6.05% the previous day. This is the highest level since Aug. 10, records show.

Dr. Alina Alonso, county health director, told county commissioners on Tuesday, “We’re going to have to keep a very close eye on this positivity going up, and our cases per day obviously.”

Miami Dade County: Test results for 12,983 county residents were tallied on Monday and reported Tuesday, producing a daily positivity rate of 5.59% for people with new infections only. That’s down from 5.83% the previous day.

Hospitalizations

The number of people hospitalized in Florida for COVID-19 continues to climb.

As of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, 2,344 people across the state were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, up from 2,246 on Monday and 2,219 on Sunday.

In South Florida, Broward County reported 210 patients hospitalized, an increase of 11 from the previous day; Palm Beach County had 136, an increase of five; and Miami-Dade had the most in the state with 331, an increase of 13.

The online report from the state Agency for Health Care Administration updates several times throughout the day. Hospitalizations hit a peak in late July of about 9,500 patients.

Since the pandemic began, 48,512 residents have been hospitalized for the disease, state health officials say.

Deaths

Statewide: Tuesday’s report shows a total of 16,505 Florida resident deaths. In addition, 204 non-resident deaths have been attributed to the virus.

Florida has the fourth-highest total of COVID-19 death among the states, after California, Texas, and New York, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Florida’s COVID-19 death rate since the pandemic began is ninth among states at 77 deaths per 100,000 people, the CDC reports. That’s higher than the national rate of 68 deaths per 100,000.

Long-term-care facilities: At least 6,664 deaths have occurred among residents and staff at nursing homes and assisted-living centers throughout Florida. That’s 16 additional deaths in the past day.

Miami-Dade County has reported the highest number of deaths at long-term-care facilities, with 842. Palm Beach County is second with 713. Broward has reported 442 deaths.

National and global view

U.S.: More than 8.7 million people in the country have been infected with the novel coronavirus and 226,002 have died as of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

World: At least 43.6 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,161,740 people have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins. The U.S. has had the most COVID-19 cases and deaths of any country.

The U.S. has 4.3% of the world’s population, but 20% of the world’s cases and 19.45% of the world’s deaths.