Florida health officials on March 6 announced the state’s first two coronavirus pandemic deaths, both linked to international travel. By March 20, the toll was up to 10 people dead from COVID-19 and the state began releasing daily reports listing fatalities.
Six months later, the official numbers now show 13,618 Floridians have died from the infectious disease. Another 164 nonresidents have died from the virus in the state.
The Florida Department of Health on Wednesday reported the deaths of 203 more residents from COVID-19 illness, the most on any daily report for almost two weeks.
Officials say these are victims who died weeks ago, but only just classified as COVID-19 deaths. The daily reports this month have shown as few as eight deaths on Sept. 13 and as many as 213 deaths on Sept. 10.
Florida’s COVID-19 death rate is the same as Pennsylvania’s, at 15th in the nation, with 62 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Overall the state ranks fifth for COVID-19 fatalities in the U.S., behind New York, New Jersey, California and Texas. Florida is the third-most populous state in the nation, after California and Texas.
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On Wednesday, Florida also reported an additional 2,590 people in the state had tested positive for COVID-19. That’s just a slight increase over the 2,470 new cases the day before.
The state experienced its highest number of new daily cases in July, with disease-related deaths reaching their highest daily counts in August.
South Florida
Broward County: 202 additional confirmed coronavirus cases were reported Wednesday. The county has tallied 76,146 cases and 1,369 deaths, 15 more than Tuesday’s total.
Palm Beach County: 141 additional cases of COVID-19 were reported Wednesday. The county has had 45,743 confirmed cases and 1,329 deaths linked to the disease, 22 more than Tuesday.
Miami-Dade County: 365 additional cases were reported Wednesday. The county has had a total of 167,880 cases and 3,148 deaths, 42 more than Tuesday’s report.
Testing
More than 5.16 million people have been tested for COVID-19 in Florida since the pandemic began, producing an overall positivity rate of 13.37%, state data show. At least 690,499 people have tested positive and 4.46 million people have tested negative.
In South Florida, the cumulative positivity rates are 18.72% for Miami-Dade County, 13.7% for Broward County and 12.72% for Palm Beach County. As of Wednesday, 896,925 people have been swabbed in Miami-Dade, 555,749 people have been tested in Broward, and 359,527 people got COVID-19 tests in Palm Beach County.
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Health officials on Wednesday reported the COVID-19 testing positivity rate for Florida was above the desired 5% level for the second straight day. It had been below 5% for 10 consecutive days before that, even dipping to 3.85% on Sept. 13, the lowest in three months.
Public health experts say that means the virus is under control. The World Health Organization has advised governments that before reopening, the rate should remain at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.
The latest state report shows the daily positivity rate at 5.3%, down from 5.85% the previous day. This figure reflects only new infections based on COVID-19 testing for the day; it does not count people who previously tested positive for the disease.
The daily positivity rates reported Wednesday were 5.17% for Broward County, up from 3.49% the previous day; 4.36% for Palm Beach County, down from 6.78%; and 5.02% for Miami-Dade County, down from 5.51%.
Wednesday’s data report shows test results for 54,483 Florida residents, up from 44,908 results reported the previous day, and 43,192 results two days ago. These results include retests of people who were previously diagnosed.
Hospitalizations
As of noon Wednesday, 2,256 people across the state were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. The number is down 63 from Tuesday.
Broward County reported 220 patients currently hospitalized; Palm Beach County had 133; and Miami-Dade had the most in the state with 315.
The online report from the state Agency for Health Care Administration updates several times throughout the day. Hospitalizations have been going down since hitting a peak in late July.
Since the pandemic began, a total of 42,941 state residents have been hospitalized for the disease in Florida, according to the Department of Health.
Deaths
Statewide: The official COVID-19 report, updated Wednesday, shows 13,618 Florida resident deaths. In addition, 164 nonresident deaths have been attributed to the virus in the state.
Long-term care facilities: At least 5,568 deaths have occurred among residents and staff of nursing homes and assisted-living centers throughout the state, 65 more than reported Tuesday.
Miami-Dade County reported the highest number of deaths at these facilities, with 782; Palm Beach County reported 568, and Broward 391.
National and global view
U.S.: More than 6.9 million people in the country have been infected with the novel coronavirus, and 201,204 have died, as of about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
World: At least 31.6 million people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 972,568 people have died from the disease, says Johns Hopkins. The U.S. has had the most COVID-19 cases and deaths of any country. The U.S. has 4.3% of the world’s population, but 21.8% of the world’s cases and 20.7% of the world’s deaths.
Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sunsentinel.com and on Twitter @marcjfreeman.
