Another 6,658 cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday in Florida, bringing the total case count close to 1 million.
The cumulative total, representing all cases since the first ones were confirmed in early March, stands at 999,319, making it likely tomorrow’s count will push Florida’s cases past 1 million, a milestone reached only by California and Texas.
The state also reported another 97 deaths, according to the Florida Department of Health, which compiles the daily updates. Most of the deaths happened in recent weeks but were just confirmed in the past day.
California, Texas and Florida are the three most populous states, so it’s not surprising that they would account for the largest case totals. On a per-person basis, however, Florida ranks 23rd for COVID-19 cases, with North Dakota heading the list, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
South Florida
Broward County: 826 additional cases and five more deaths reported on Monday. Broward has a known total of 107,524 cases and 1,693 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The death tally includes 29 non-residents.
Palm Beach County: 361 additional cases and 16 more deaths. The county now has 65,372 confirmed cases and 1,718 deaths. The fatalities include 24 non-residents.
Miami-Dade County: 1,962 additional cases and one more death. The county now has 229,618 confirmed cases and 3,858 deaths. The death tally includes 23 non-residents.
Testing and positivity rates
Public health experts say the virus is considered under control when the COVID-19 test positivity rate is under 5%. Florida exceeds 5% by both of its measures of assessing the rate for testing of residents.
In the first calculation, the state reported a daily positivity rate of 8.4% Monday, up from 7.85% 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, Monday’s new case numbers reflect the results of 87,739 COVID-19 tests of Florida residents received from labs in the past day, down from 103,123 results reported Sunday.
In the second calculation, which includes retests of people who were previously diagnosed, the statewide daily positivity rate is 11% based on the latest results for 87,139 residents. That’s up from 10.06% the previous day.
Broward County: Test results for 9,505 residents were reported Monday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 8.56%. That’s up from 7.28% the previous day.
Palm Beach County: Test results for 4,669 residents were reported on Monday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 7.56%, up from 7.06% the previous day.
Miami-Dade County: Test results for 19,721 residents were reported Monday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 9.81%, down from 10.04% the previous day.
Deaths
Statewide: The state’s pandemic data report shows a total of 18,597 Floridians have died from COVID-19. In addition, 236 non-residents have died, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 18,833.
Florida has the fourth-highest total of COVID-19 deaths among the states, behind New York, Texas and California, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Florida’s death rate since the pandemic began ranks 14th in the nation at 86 deaths per 100,000 people, the CDC reports. That’s higher than the national rate of 81 deaths per 100,000.
Long-term-care facilities: At least 7,315 residents and staff have died at nursing homes and assisted-living centers throughout Florida as of Monday, up 38 from the day before.
Miami-Dade County reported the highest number of resident and staff deaths at long-term care facilities, with 862. Palm Beach County was second with 761, up six from the previous day. Broward has reported 469 deaths, an increase of two since Sunday.
Child infections
COVID-19 infections among children under age 18 continued to rise across Florida. Monday’s total showed 89,675 cases statewide. That’s an increase of 11,947 over the past two weeks and an increase of 843 in the past 24 hours.
Records show 752,224 kids have been swabbed since the beginning of the pandemic. And 11.9% of them have tested positive.
Overall, the statistics show 19,741 cases among children in Miami-Dade County, the most in the state. That’s an increase of 279 from Sunday. Broward had 11,751 cases, an increase of 132 cases from the day before. Palm Beach County had 5,463 infections, another 55 in the past day.
The statewide report also shows 945 children have been treated in hospitals for COVID-19 illness since March. Nine have died. The death total has been the same since Sept. 26.
Hospitalizations
As of Monday at 2:30 p.m., there were 4,160 people hospitalized in Florida with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration. That was 101 more than around the same time on Sunday.
In South Florida, Broward County reported 422, an increase of 14; Palm Beach County had 293, an increase of 14; and Miami-Dade continued to have the most in the state with 644, an increase of 23.
Hospitalizations hit a peak in late July of about 9,500 patients statewide.
Since the pandemic began, 54,864 residents have been hospitalized for the disease, according to the state health department.
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National and global view
U.S.: More than 13.4 million people in the country have been infected with the novel coronavirus and 267,306 have died as of 2:30 p.m. Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 dashboard.
World: More than 63 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 1.46 million people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins says. 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 21.3% of the world’s cases and 18.3% of the world’s deaths.
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
