At least 2,364 people in Florida have died from the new coronavirus pandemic, state health officials reported Thursday morning. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties account for 1,303 of the deaths.
Overall, it’s a rise of 45 reported deaths over the previous day across the state.
Records show that 49% of the fatalities in total have been in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.
The Department of Health says 53,285 people in the state have tested positive for COVID-19. That’s 651 more cases in the past 24 hours.
The death toll includes 669 in Miami-Dade County, the epicenter for infections in Florida. That’s a one-day increase of 14 deaths.
With 2.7 million people, Miami-Dade has the highest population of all 67 counties in the state, according to the most recent census data.
There have been 327 deaths in Palm Beach County and 307 in Broward, according to the latest official data.
The vast majority of people killed by the virus in South Florida have had a pre-existing condition such as heart disease and diabetes, according to county medical examiners.
Breaking the numbers down further, reports show 29,807 infected individuals in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
Florida health officials say there have been 935,271 tests for COVID-19, with a total to date of about 5.6% positive statewide and 8.4% in South Florida.
A month ago, on April 28, it was about 9% positive statewide and 12% in South Florida.
Over the past 10 days only 3% or fewer of those tested each day were diagnosed with infections, the reports show.
Since the pandemic began, 9,795 people have been treated in Florida hospitals, the state reported.
U.S., global view
The coronavirus death toll in the United States went over 100,000 on Wednesday, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center
As of Thursday morning, the U.S. has had 1.7 million coronavirus cases with 100,467 deaths. This includes at least 40,823 victims in the national hot spots of New York and New Jersey.
Johns Hopkins University has also reported more than 5.7 million cases worldwide. At least 356,279 people have died.
Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sunsentinel.com and on Twitter @marcjfreeman
