Florida COVID update for Sunday: 4,671 cases, 37 deaths, current hospitalizations plunge
A statistical cliff dive in current hospitalizations, one of the most reliable indicators of COVID-19 spread, overshadowed the Florida Department of Health’s daily COVID-19 dashboard report.
The Agency for Health Care Administration reported 2,455 people in Florida hospitals with a primary COVID-19 diagnosis, almost 25% less than Saturday.
Sunday is usually the day with the lowest case numbers and death toll because data tends to be collected and entered at a lower rate on the weekends. This Sunday’s report said there were 4,671 new COVID-19 cases, 36 residents and one non-resident whose death was caused by COVID-19.
For the coronavirus pandemic, Florida reports 2,208,584 cases, 34,848 resident deaths and 35,534 total deaths.
Saturday’s state-wide positive test rate was 6.95%, the highest in five days.
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COVID vaccines in Florida and South Florida
All the vaccination numbers were lower this Sunday, probably reflecting the effect of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine hold.
▪ Florida: The state’s vaccination report says another 33,327 people have received either the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine or their second COVID vaccine dose of the two-shot vaccines, meaning 5,758,162 people are fully vaccinated.
▪ Miami-Dade County: The state reported 7,718 people completed their vaccinations, meaning 760,881 in Miami-Dade are fully vaccinated.
▪ Broward: Another 2,164 people completed their vaccinations, putting Broward’s completed vaccine total at 513,799.
▪ Palm Beach: After 2,886 people completed their vaccine treatment, 423,321 in Palm Beach County have completed a vaccine regimen.
▪ Monroe: Another 59 people completed their vaccine shot treatment. Overall, 22,644 have done so.
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Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 878 more people who tested positive and 15 more COVID-19 deaths, putting its pandemic totals at 478,660 cases and 6,112 deaths.
The positive test rate on Saturday was 5.93%, according to the county-by-county breakdown, the lowest of at least the last two weeks.
▪ Broward County reported another 567 cases and five deaths, moving its totals to 233,165 cases and 2,865 deaths.
The positive test rate was 6.47% on Saturday, ending a run of consecutive days under 6% at five.
▪ Palm Beach County reported 308 new cases (141,558 for the pandemic) and zero deaths (2,742).
Saturday’s positive rate was 8.24%, the only day in the last two weeks over 8.0%.
▪ Monroe County reported 19 new cases and zero deaths. Pandemic totals in the Keys are 6,836 cases and 49 deaths.
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Current hospitalizations
Government officials use current hospitalizations to decide the next action in dealing with the pandemic. On the state level, this has been steadily falling over the last month.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reports 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.
As of 1:46 p.m Sunday, the agency said there were 2,455 people hospitalized, 816 less than than 2:46 p.m. Saturday, a 24.9% plummet. South Florida’s two largest counties were part of this drop, compared to Saturday: Miami-Dade, down 42 to 526; Broward, down 107 to 353; Palm Beach, up nine to 203; and Monroe staying at one.
Florida’s 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.
Sunday, Miami-Dade’s New Normal Dashboard said hospitals reported 570 COVID-19 patients, 19 fewer people than Saturday’s report, 47 fewer than three days previous and 37 more than a week before. The number of patients in Intensive Care Unit beds was 130 at Sunday’s report, seven more than Saturday’s report, down six from seven days previous and six more than 13 days previous.
