With 253 more deaths, Florida breaks its daily COVID-19 record
Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 9,956 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 461,379. There were also 253 Florida resident deaths announced, breaking a fatality record for the third day in a row.
The statewide resident death toll is now at 6,586.
The 253 deaths mark the highest single-day Florida resident death toll announced by the Florida Department of Health since the pandemic began, but it does not necessarily mean that every person died in the same 24-hour span.
In Florida, the deaths announced on a given day could be from several days earlier because the state information does not include the exact date of death. Previously, the highest single-day Florida resident death toll was reported on Wednesday, with 216 deaths.
Florida’s Department of Health also deleted one nonresident death from its count Thursday, leaving the nonresident death toll at 123. The health department did not immediately respond to the Miami Herald’s inquiry as to why the death count was adjusted.
Miami-Dade County reported 2,773 additional cases and 60 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county has 115,916 confirmed cases and 1,515 deaths.
Broward County reported 1,342 additional cases and 38 new deaths. The county has 54,312 known cases and 676 deaths.
Palm Beach County saw 525 additional cases and 11 new deaths. The county has 32,696 confirmed cases and 806 deaths.
Monroe County reported 32 additional cases and no new deaths. The Florida Keys has 1,230 confirmed cases and six deaths.
On Wednesday night, the administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County confirmed the death of two more people who tested positive for the disease but said that the medical examiner has yet to announce an official cause of death. If the deaths are determined to be COVID-19 related, the county’s death toll would rise to eight.
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, there were 8,429 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 1,854 were in Miami-Dade, 1,238 in Broward,
530 in Palm Beach and 14 in Monroe counties, according to the agency.
Florida’s current hospitalization data does not always match the hospitalization data reported in Miami-Dade’s “New Normal” dashboard.
On Thursday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 2,079 to 2,061 according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Wednesday’s data, 226 people were discharged and 169 people were admitted.
Testing, like hospitalizations, helps officials determine the virus’ progress and plays a role in deciding whether it is safe to lift stay-at-home orders and loosen restrictions.
On Thursday, Florida’s Department of Health reported 95,052 new tests on Wednesday. The positive rate was 15.98% of the total, according to the report. In total, 4,635,026 tests have been conducted.
To date, 3,584,193 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 461,379 (about 12.87%) have tested positive. The state says there are 3,304 tests with pending results.