CORONAVIRUS
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Florida adds 132 deaths, highest fatality toll, as coronavirus cases surpass 290,600
Restaurants protest Miami-Dade’s order to shut dining rooms again
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Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 9,194 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total known cases to 291,629. There were also 132 new deaths announced, bringing the statewide death toll to 4,409.
The 132 deaths are the most the health department has announced within a 24-hour period, although it does not necessarily mean that all of the people died in the past 24 hours. Previously, the highest single-day toll was reported on Thursday with 120 deaths.
One new non-resident death was also announced, bringing the state’s non-resident death toll to 105.
COVID-19 CASES IN SOUTH FLORIDA
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 2,090 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 32 new deaths, according to the state health department. The county now has 69,803 confirmed cases and 1,175 deaths.
▪ Broward County reported 1,330 additional confirmed cases of the disease and no new deaths. The county now has 32,814 known cases and 464 deaths.
▪ Palm Beach County saw 473 additional confirmed cases and 13 new deaths. The county now has 22,279 confirmed cases and 624 deaths.
▪ Monroe County reported 30 additional cases of the disease and no new deaths. The Florida Keys now have 641 confirmed cases and six deaths.
Here’s a breakdown on what you need to know:
CONFIRMED COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATIONS IN FLORIDA
One of the tools that officials are relying 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.
On Friday, 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 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, there were 8,354 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard.
Of those, 1,858 were in Miami-Dade, 1,229 were in Broward, 652 were in Palm Beach and 19 were in Monroe County, according to the agency.
Florida’s current hospitalization data does not always match the hospitalization data reported in Miami-Dade’s “New Normal” dashboard. Jennifer Moon, deputy mayor of Miami-Dade, told the Miami Herald Friday that there may be a number of reasons why the county’s hospitalization data differs from the state’s.
She said these reasons include the frequency of daily updates, human error and whether the state’s agency is including in its data the patients who visited the emergency room for other urgent medical needs and tested positive for COVID after they are admitted.
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications rose to an all-time high of 2,029, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Tuesday’s data, 222 people were discharged and 182 people were admitted.
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The state has had 18,881 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.
The recommended number of daily tests needed varies among experts, but the dean of the University of South Florida’s College of Medicine told the governor that Florida needs to test about 33,000 people every day.
On Tuesday, Florida’s Department of Health reported 67,160 new tests on Monday. The positive rate was 18.31% of the total, according to the report. In total, 3,330,418 tests have been conducted.
To date, 2,688,366 people have been tested in Florida. Of the total tested, 291,629 (about 10.69%) have tested positive. The state says there are 2,057 tests with pending results. Tuesday’s testing data was not immediately available.
The state began adding antigen test results to Florida’s case totals earlier this month. Antigen tests are a new category of tests that detect fragments of proteins found in the virus by testing samples collected by nose swabs. The FDA authorized the first antigen COVID-19 tests in May.
There’s never a dull moment in Florida — and Michelle covers it as a Real Time/Breaking News Reporter for the Miami Herald. She graduated with honors from Florida International University, where she served as the editor-in-chief of Student Media PantherNOW. Previously, she worked as a news writer at WSVN Channel 7 and is currently a Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow.
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