Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Virus fatalities surging
Florida reports nearly 200 more COVID-19 deaths, a record for state during pandemic
Florida’s COVID-19 fatalities continue to surge, as officials said another 191 people died in the state from disease complications.
That’s the most reported on any day so far in the coronavirus pandemic, topping the 173 deaths reported Thursday. The state has reported 921 deaths over the last seven days, or an average of almost 132 deaths per day.
But the deaths reported Tuesday happened over a number of weeks, rather than over the past 24 hours. Two of the new fatalities reported for Miami-Dade County were cases initially counted in April and May, records show.
While the additional deaths push the state’s death toll to 6,240, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the outlook is improving. He pointed to better treatments for people hospitalized for COVID-19, and a recent trend of fewer people going to emergency rooms with coughs and other symptoms.
“Those are tough things to see when you see fatalities come in,” he said during a news conference at an Orlando hospital. “If someone is admitted to the hospital today, there’s going to be a certain amount of treatment … usually it results in discharges … but not every time.
“And so I think when you see those reports, those are probably reflective of infections and hospitalizations that have happened in the past.”
Florida’s death rate is near the middle compared with other states. Florida’s death rate per 100,000 people was 28 as of Tuesday,
according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s COVID Data Tracker.
The death rate is significantly higher in New York City with 280 deaths per 100,000. California has reported 21 deaths per 100,000, and Texas has had 20 deaths per 100,000. California and Texas are the most populous states, followed by Florida and New York.
The Florida Department of Health on Tuesday also had some more troubling news: 9,230 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19.
That ends two days of declines, including Monday’s count of 8,892 that was the lowest in nearly three weeks. The test results reported on a single day typically reflect tests taken over several days; the early part of the week typically has lower infection totals.
The state’s total of known cases now stands at 441,977, which ranks it behind only California’s 460,000-plus cases. Florida surpassed New York State, the original coronavirus epicenter, on Saturday.
New York, California and five other states have had more pandemic deaths than Florida, the CDC says.
South Florida
South Florida, which accounts for 29% of Florida’s population, reported 4,550 new cases in the past day, or 49.3% of the daily total for the state, according to the state Department of Health.
Broward County: 873 new coronavirus cases were reported Tuesday, bringing the total to 51,657. A total of 632 people have died, which is unchanged since Monday.
Palm Beach County: 640 new cases were reported, bringing the total to 31,598. A total of 794 people have died, 21 more than reported Monday.
Miami-Dade County: 3,037 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to 110,352.
A total of 1,441 people have died. That’s 21 more than reported Monday.
Testing and the positivity rate
Florida says it has tested 3.49 million people since the pandemic began, and 12.7% have been positive.
Florida reported an 11.7% positivity rate for tests statewide in the previous 24-hour period, up slightly since Monday.
The rate was 17.5% for Miami-Dade, 10.8% for Broward and 10.9% for Palm Beach County.
Broward’s rate was the lowest since June 27, and Miami-Dade’s rate was the lowest since July 21, but the rate for Palm Beach County increased by two percentage points since Monday.
The daily positivity rate is a key figure, since it’s one of the numbers that indicates the prevalence of the disease in the population. In May, Florida’s positivity rate was about 5%.
Hospitalizations
The number of people being treated for COVID-19 at hospitals on Tuesday decreased slightly statewide, but increased in South Florida.
The total stood at 8,976, as of noon Tuesday, according to the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration. About 24 hours earlier, the same report listed 9,035 patients.
Miami-Dade County has the most people hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of the new coronavirus: 2,016 patients, an increase of 53 since Monday. Next is Broward with 1,285, up by nine since Monday. Palm Beach County has 598 patients, a decrease of 21.
A different report, from the state health department, shows 24,917 Florida residents have been hospitalized since the start of the pandemic. That’s an increase of 10,092 patients since July 1, when the total was 14,825 hospitalizations.
Deaths
Statewide: The official COVID-19 death total for Florida reached 6,240 on Tuesday. That figure includes 123 people who were not residents. The three South Florida counties account for 2,867 deaths, which is 45.9% of the state total.
“Obviously to have families lose somebody is a big deal and every one matters,” DeSantis said. “As you have fewer [emergency room] visits, as you have fewer COVID-positive patients in the hospital … I’m pretty sure … you’ll see mortality decrease … and obviously we want to get there.”
Senior care: At least 2,760 deaths have occurred in nursing homes and longterm care facilities, a figure that represents 45.1% of the state total for coronavirus deaths of residents. MiamiDade
County has the highest number of long-term care facility deaths, with 596, or 21.6% of the total. Palm Beach County had 315 deaths, or 11.4%, and Broward accounted for 201 deaths, or 7.3%.
COVID-19 is the state’s deadliest infectious disease, killing three times more Floridians a day than flu/ pneumonia, AIDS and viral hepatitis combined, records show. The most vulnerable to death and hospitalization are people older than 65 or those who have underlying health concerns such as weakened immune systems, diabetes or obesity.
Global view
U.S.: The coronavirus death toll in the United States reached 148,298 as of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.
The United States has reported more than 4.3 million cases, the highest total in the world.
Worldwide: The global total reached 16.5 million cases Tuesday, with at least 655,300 deaths, Johns Hopkins reported.
The U.S. has 4.3% of the world’s population, but 26.1% of the world’s cases and 22.6% of the world’s deaths.