Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
South Florida
Broward County: 126 new coronavirus cases were reported
Wednesday, bringing the total to 72,371. A total of 1,223 people in Broward were reported to have died, 10 more than the previous day.
Palm Beach County: 131 new cases were reported Wednesday, bringing the total to 42,518. A total of 1,151 deaths were reported, six more since the previous day.
Miami-Dade County: 341 new cases were reported Wednesday, bringing the total to 159,400. A total of 2,573 people in Miami-Dade were reported to have died from COVID-19. That’s 17 more than Tuesday’s total.
Testing, positivity rate
More than 4.7 million people have been tested for COVID-19 statewide, producing an overall positivity rate of 13.48%, according to the Florida Department of Health. Based on these results, 631,442 people have tested positive and just over 4 million people have tested negative.
In South Florida, the overall positivity rates are 19.29% for Miami-Dade County, 14.1% for Broward County, and 12.88% for Palm Beach County.
On Wednesday, Florida reported that its daily positivity rate was 5.63%. This figure reflects only new infections, as it doesn’t count people who previously tested positive.
It’s down from a reported 6.75% positivity the previous day, which includes the backlog of old results from Quest.
Positivity is viewed as a key way to gauge the prevalence of the disease. Public health experts say the coronavirus is under control when the rate is 5% or below. Florida says its “target range” is below 10%.
Recent numbers mark a significant improvement over July, when the daily positivity rate for new infections was hovering around 15% across the state.
Wednesday’s data report shows test results for 50,707 Florida residents, down from 127,979 results reported the previous day with the Quest backlog.
In South Florida, the daily positivity rates reported on Wednesday were 4.6% for Broward County, down from 6.42% with the data dump; 4.2% for Palm Beach County, down from 4.26% with the backlog; and 5.3% for Miami-Dade County, down from 9.61% with the backlog.
Hospitalizations
Across the state, 3,525 people were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. Broward County reported 417 patients; Palm Beach County had 211; and Miami-Dade had 611, the most in the state.
The state Agency for Health Care Administration’s online report updates several times throughout the day. Hospitalizations have been declining statewide, including South Florida, since late July.
Since the pandemic began, a total of 39,158 people have been hospitalized for the disease in the state, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Deaths
Statewide: The official COVID-19 report, updated Wednesday, shows 11,501 Florida resident deaths. Another 150 nonresidents also died in Florida since the pandemic began. The state has reported an average of 111 deaths per day over the past seven days.
Long-term care facilities: At least 4,811 deaths have occurred among residents and staff of nursing homes and assisted-living centers throughout the state — 52 more than the total reported Tuesday.
Miami-Dade County has the highest number of deaths at the facilities, with 718; Palm Beach County has reported 485 deaths, and Broward accounted for 355 deaths.
Global view
Worldwide: The novel coronavirus has infected 25.8 million people and killed at least 858,661 worldwide as of 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
U.S.: The United States has almost 6.1 million cases, the highest total in the world, with at least 184,974 deaths, also the most of any country. The U.S. has 4.3% of the world’s population but 23.6% of the world’s cases and 21.5% of the world’s deaths.