Florida reports 9,594 COVID cases as more than 200 deaths push toll past 25,600

Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 9,594 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,667,763 Also, 227 resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 25,673.

Four new non-resident deaths were also announced, bringing the cumulative non-resident toll to 407.

According to the state’s Tuesday COVID-19 vaccine report, 1,446,580 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida and 175,841 people have completed the series of two doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Of those who completed the two-dose vaccination, 25,578 were Miami-Dade residents, 19,550 were Broward residents, 9,602 were Palm Beach residents and 352 were Monroe residents.

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Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida

▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,770 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 12 new deaths, according to Florida’s Department of Health. The county now has 362,601 confirmed cases and 4,759 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 8.18% to 8.37%, from Sunday to Monday. The 14-day percent positivity average was 8.81%, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard.

▪ Broward County reported 975 additional confirmed cases of the disease and five new deaths. The county has a known total of 168,000 cases and 2,050 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 8.72% to 8.95% from Sunday to Monday.

▪ Palm Beach County saw 527 additional confirmed cases and two new deaths. The county now has 103,495 confirmed cases and 2,125 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 9.05% to 9.56% from Sunday to Monday.

▪ Monroe County confirmed 15 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 5,199 cases and 39 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 9.23% to 4.97% from Sunday to Monday.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida

One of the tools that officials rely on to determine whether the coronavirus situation is improving in the state is hospitalization data. Unlike testing, which might be limited or takes days to report results, hospitalizations can help give officials a real-time snapshot of how many people are severely ill with COVID-19.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reports 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.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, there were 6,786 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This is near mid-August levels, when more than 7,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted daily into hospitals throughout the state.

Of Tuesday’s hospitalizations, 983 were in Miami-Dade, 655 in Broward, 441 in Palm Beach and eight in Monroe, according to the agency.

Florida’s current hospitalization data does not always match the hospitalization data reported in Miami-Dade’s “New Normal” dashboard. Officials say this could be for a number of reasons, including the frequency of daily updates.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade hospitalizations for COVID-19 complications increased from 1,071 to 1,087, according to Miami-Dade County’s “New Normal” dashboard. According to Tuesday’s data, 137 people were discharged and 109 people were admitted.

The state has had a total of 70,802 Florida 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.

Epidemiologists use the testing data to create a positivity rate. The rate helps them determine if a rise in cases is because of an increase in testing or whether there’s increased transmission of the virus in the community.

On Tuesday, Florida’s Department of Health reported the results of 103,200 people tested on Monday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) decreased from 9.56% to 9.19%.