Florida COVID update for Tuesday: 136 deaths push resident death toll past 31,000

Michelle Marchante, Devoun Cetoute
·3 min read

Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday announced 7,179 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The state also announced 140 new deaths. Of those who died, 136 were residents, pushing the resident death toll past 31,000.

The state has now recorded a known total of 1,918,100 coronavirus cases and 31,696 total deaths. Among those who died, 31,135 were residents and 561 were nonresidents.

On Tuesday, the state reported the results of 148,412 residents tested on Monday. The state’s percent positivity for first-time testers decreased from 6.30% to 5.69%.

More than 1.7 million Floridians have completed the two-dose vaccination series of either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, and more than 1.3 million have received the first dose.

Listen to today's top stories from the Miami Herald:

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Alexa | Google Assistant | More options

COVID-19 in South Florida

▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,956 new cases and 32 deaths, putting its pandemic totals at 412,908 cases and 5,481 deaths. In Miami-Dade, 153,958 people have received the first vaccine dose and 184,852 people have completed the two-dose series. Percent positivity decreased from 5.73% to 4.87%.

▪ Broward County added 897 cases and nine deaths, moving its totals to 196,114 cases and 2,408 deaths. In Broward, 112,629 people have received the first vaccine dose and 152,758 have completed the series. Percent positivity decreased from 6.26% to 6.10%.

▪ Palm Beach County reported 358 new cases and six deaths, bringing its cumulative count to 121,226 cases and 2,486 deaths. In Palm Beach, 105,542 people have received the first vaccine dose and 161,856 have completed the series. Percent positivity decreased from 6.96% to 5.41%.

▪ Monroe County added 31 new cases and no new deaths. Pandemic totals in the Keys are 5,892 cases and 46 deaths. In Monroe, 5,084 people have received the first vaccine dose and 6,787 have completed the series. Percent positivity increased from 3.57% to 6.36%.

Florida COVID-19 hospitalizations

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.

Government officials use current hospitalizations to decide the next steps in fighting the pandemic.

As of 2:31 p.m. Tuesday, the agency said there were 3,675 people hospitalized. Of these, Miami-Dade had 590; Broward, 546; Palm Beach, 254; and Monroe, three, the agency said.

According to Miami-Dade’s New Normal Dashboard, county hospitals have reported 634 COVID-19 patients, down from 666 on Monday. There were 61 new patients and 108 were discharged.

State hospitalization data doesn’t always match Miami-Dade’s New Normal Dashboard data for various reasons, including the frequency of daily updates.