Florida breaks fatality record with 276 resident deaths, and adds more than 5,000 new cases
Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 5,831 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s known total to 542,792. There were also 276 Florida resident deaths announced, breaking a fatality record.
The statewide resident death toll is now at 8,553.
The 276 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 past 24 hours.
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 July 31, with 257 deaths.
One new non-resident death in the state was also announced, bringing the non-resident death toll to 132, according to the Florida COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
Listen to today's top stories from the Miami Herald:
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Alexa | Google Assistant | More options
Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in South Florida
Note: The Florida Department of Health says that each county’s percent positivity for new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) does not include retests (people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time).
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,507 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 135,130 confirmed cases and 1,909 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 13.5%.
▪ Broward County reported 707 additional confirmed cases of the disease and 35 new deaths. The county now has a known total of 63,605 cases and 856 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 10.2%.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 344 additional confirmed cases and four new deaths. The county now has 37,641 confirmed cases and 940 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 8.6%.
▪ Monroe County reported 17 additional cases of the disease and no new deaths, according to the health department. The Florida Keys now have 1,548 confirmed cases and 13 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases: 9.2%.
Here’s a breakdown on what you need to know:
How many people have recovered from coronavirus in Florida? It’s complicated
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida
One of the tools that officials rely on to determine whether the coronavirus situation is improving in the state is hospitalization data. Unlike testing, which might be limited or take days to report results, hospitalizations can help give officials a real-time snapshot of how many people are severely ill with COVID-19.
Last month, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration began reporting the number of patients hospitalized statewide with a “primary diagnosis of COVID.” The data, which is updated at least every hour, does not distinguish between the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital intensive care units and those in acute-care beds, which require less attention from nurses.
Previously, the state was only providing the total number of hospitalizations in its statewide and county-level data. Miami-Dade was an exception, with hospitals self-reporting a number of key metrics, including hospitalizations, to the county, which has made this data public for several months.
As of 3:46 p.m. Tuesday, there were 6,753 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 1,440 were in Miami-Dade, 920 in Broward, 442 in Palm Beach and 7 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. Officials say this could be for a number of reasons including the frequency of daily updates.
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications decreased from 1,666 to 1,623, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Tuesday’s data, 174 people were discharged and 113 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 31,354 Florida residents hospitalized for COVID-19-related complications, according to Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard.
COVID-19 testing in Florida
Testing in Florida has seen steady growth since the COVID-19 crisis began.
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.
Epidemiologists then use the testing data to create a positive rate. The rate helps them determine if a rise in cases is because of an increase in testing, or if it means there’s increased transmission of the virus in the community.
On Tuesday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 66,962 people tested on Monday. The positive rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) was 10.30%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positive rate for Monday’s testing was 14.70% of the total, according to the report.
In total, 5,375,903 tests have been conducted. To date, 4,055,587 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 542,792 (13.38%) have tested positive. The state says there are 3,444 tests with pending results.
