Florida sees 3,987 new cases and 29 more deaths

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida reported 3,987 new coronavirus cases on Sunday and another 29 new resident deaths linked to COVID-19. The state has now reported 2,008,349 cases since the pandemic began.

The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country in the world. As of Sunday, more than 29.7 million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 541,900 people have died across the U.S., as reported by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. accounts for roughly 1 of every 4 cases reported worldwide and 1 of every 5 deaths.

Worldwide, more than 122.9 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 2.7 million people have died while battling the coronavirus.

Brazil has reported the second most cases, with more than 11.9 million, followed by India with 11.59 million. Brazil has reported more deaths, with a tally of 292,752 compared to 197,827 in Mexico and 159,755 in India.

In Florida, the seven-day average for new cases has been declining since Jan. 8.

SOUTH FLORIDA

Palm Beach County: 324 additional cases and 0 more deaths. The county now has 128,154 confirmed cases and 2,645 deaths, including 49 non-residents.

Broward County: 516 additional cases and 4 more deaths. Broward has a known total of 208,096 cases and 2,640 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The death tally includes 45 non-residents.

Miami-Dade County: 900 additional cases and 1 new death. The county now has 434,352 confirmed cases and 5,766 deaths, including 41 non-residents.

TESTING AND POSITIVITY

Public health experts say the virus is considered under control when the COVID-19 test positivity rate is under 5%. But since Oct. 29, Florida has exceeded 5% in its widely publicized calculation for assessing the rate for testing of residents.

The state reported a daily positivity rate of 6.23% on Sunday, up from 5.39% the day before. This method of calculating positivity counts new infections only, but also counts repeat negative tests, which skews the figure downward.

According to the state, the new reported case numbers reflect the results of 64,090 COVID-19 tests of Florida residents received from labs in the past day, down from 93,462 results reported the day before.

Palm Beach County: Test results for 4,924 residents were reported Sunday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 6.09%. That's up from 5.27% the previous day.

Broward County: Test results for 8,166 residents were reported Sunday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 6.38%. That's up from 5.79% the previous day.

Miami-Dade County: Test results for 14,476 residents were reported Sunday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 6.51%. That's up from 5.70% the previous day.

DEATHS

The state’s pandemic data report shows a total of 32,742 Floridians have died from COVID-19. In addition, 627 non-residents have died after contracting the virus. Most of the fatalities reported Sunday happened over several weeks but were just confirmed in the past day.

Out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Florida ranks No. 24 for deaths per 100,000 residents and No. 18 for cases per 100,000 residents, according to the latest data from the health department and the COVID Tracking Project.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

As of Sunday, there were 2,850 people hospitalized in Florida with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

In South Florida, Broward County reported 440, Palm Beach County had 182 and Miami-Dade had 553.

Hospitalizations hit a peak in late July of about 9,500 patients statewide, then dipped as low as 2,011 on Oct. 19. The numbers steadily increased throughout November and December.

VACCINES

In Florida, 2,144,454 people have received their first dose of the vaccine, or about 9.98% of the population.

So far, 2,674,975 people have completed the series of doses required to be vaccinated. That represents about 12.45% of the population.