Just a day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has given the green light for a fuller reopening of business and restaurants, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) recorded another 2,795 positive evidence of the new coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 698,682.
Yeah, that’s why Florida has had almost 700,000 cases of #COVID19. If it’s a source of pride, why not go for 1,000,000 or, heck, even 2 MILLION.
You’d be a world leader in COVID!
— No one will save us. We have to save ourselves. (@brucewilson) September 25, 2020
It is the fifth consecutive day in which between 2,400 and 2,900 cases have been reported daily.
Health authorities also added 107 deaths of people with COVID-19 on Saturday, which brought the death count in the state to 14,190. This is the day with the least number of deaths since September 22 on which an additional 99 deaths were recorded.
Health authorities have explained that not necessarily all deaths occurred in the last 24 hours. In Florida, the announced deaths may be from previous days because the department reports new deaths when reported, but they are not necessarily the same day.
COVID-19 CONTAGIONS IN MIAMI-DADE, BROWARD, PALM BEACH AND MONROE
According to figures released saturday, 25.5% of new cases diagnosed in the last 24 hours are in the southeastern state:
• Miami-Dade on Saturday reached 3,231 deaths and 169,144 confirmed cases, an increase of 29 deaths and 369 contagions compared to Friday.
• Broward recorded 76,700 confirmed cases and 1,379 deaths, an increase of 180 contagions, and 15 deaths.
• Palm Beach recorded 46,183 confirmed cases, an increase of 160 contagions. In addition, an additional 15 deaths were announced in the county, raising the count to 1,342 deaths.
Monroe recorded six new confirmed cases and no additional deaths. The Keys now have 1,834 confirmed cases and 22 deaths.
HOSPITALIZATIONS AND TESTS, PANDEMIC STATUS BAROMETER
A key tool for determining whether the coronavirus situation is improving in the state is hospitalization figures. Unlike tests, which can be limited or take days to report results, hospitalizations can help authorities know in real time how many people are sick with the virus.
According to state authorities, Florida has recorded an additional 170 hospitalizations since Friday morning, bringing total hospitalizations in the state from the beginning of the pandemic to 43,469.
This summer, the Health Care Administration Agency (AHCA) confirmed that a new column was added to its board that includes state and condal hospitalizations. According to this data, at the state level on Saturday there were 2,100 people hospitalized “with primary diagnosis of COVID”.
A week ago, there were 2,266 patients with COVID-19 in the state hospitals.
Tests, such as hospitalizations, also help officials determine the progress of the virus and play an important role in deciding whether it is safe to loosen restrictions.
The recommended number of daily tests required varies by expert, but the dean of the University of South Florida School of Medicine told the governor that Florida should evaluate about 33,000 people every day.
The State Department of Health reported 29,021 new COVID-19 tests in Saturday’s update, much less than the 79,780 tests reported last Saturday.
In total, the state has tested 5,242,163 people since the start of the pandemic.
