TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida announced 173 new resident deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, the highest number announced for any day since the start of the pandemic.
It doesn’t mean all of the deaths occurred Wednesday but marks the largest number reported at a single time by the state.
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Florida’s department of health also reported 10,249 more cases of COVID-19, snapping a string of two straight days with fewer than 10,000 new cases.
The state is now up to 389,868 cases and 5,518 resident deaths associated with the novel coronavirus since the start of the outbreak. At least 114 more nonresidents have died in Florida.
The new deaths reported Thursday include 12 in Miami-Dade County, seven in Broward and 18 in Palm Beach County.
Florida’s previous record for deaths announced in a day was 156 on July 16. The state had announced 134 new deaths Tuesday and 139 on Wednesday, which was then second-most for a day.
South Florida elected leaders are trying various measures to slow the spread while avoiding another full shutdown of businesses, but some have said that stay-at-home orders could be brought back if people don’t comply with the existing safety rules.
The newest measures include stiffer penalties for not wearing masks in Miami-Dade County and some of its largest cities, and more aggressive code enforcement in Broward County.
County-by-county
In the past day, Miami-Dade County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 2,723 to 95,068. The county has 1,354 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest total in the state.
Broward’s cases increased by 1,263 to 45,010. The county’s death toll is now at 536.
Palm Beach County’s cases increased by 761 to 28,267, with the death toll now at 727.
Monroe County is now listed with 998 cases, a one-day increase of 20, and six deaths.
Florida has confirmed at least 22,644 coronavirus-related hospitalizations since the start of the outbreak.
Tracking the records
Florida’s most cases announced in a day: 15,300 on July 12
Florida’s most deaths announced in a day: 173 on July 23
Miami-Dade’s most cases announced in a day: 3,576 on July 12
Broward’s most cases announced in a day: 1,772 on July 12
Palm Beach’s most cases announced in a day: 1,171 on July 12
Monroe’s most cases announced in a day: 74 on July 11.
Positivity rates
Over the past month, Florida has seen a notable increase in the rate of COVID-19 tests that are coming back positive, showing that the rise in cases is caused by more than just increased testing.
Statewide, Florida reports having completed over 3.2 million tests for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, with 12.1% coming back positive. The state says its target is to stay below 10% positivity.
The rate of positivity among people tested for COVID-19 across Florida topped out at over 18% for tests processed July 8. Positivity statewide has remained between 10% and 13% throughout the past week. (This percentage is the number of people who test positive for the first time divided by all the people tested that day, excluding people who have previously tested positive.)
Here’s a look at how those percentages have trended in Miami-Dade and Broward counties:
MIAMI-DADE
- 6/13 – 3.0%
- 6/14 – 8.9%
- 6/15 – 9.0%
- 6/16 – 12.8%
- 6/17 – 11.2%
- 6/18 – 11.1%
- 6/19 – 11.7%
- 6/20 – 13.3%
- 6/21 – 8.9%
- 6/22 – 18.1%
- 6/23 – 19.6%
- 6/24 – 10.2%
- 6/25 – 14.2%
- 6/26 – 14.0%
- 6/27 – 17.7%
- 6/28 – 18.5%
- 6/29 – 17.7%
- 6/30 – 18.2%
- 7/1 – 19.5%
- 7/2 – 20.9%
- 7/3 – 18.9%
- 7/4 – 20.5%
- 7/5 – 19.9%
- 7/6 – 20.9%
- 7/7 – 21.9%
- 7/8 – 26.3%
- 7/9 – 20.3%
- 7/10 – 21.5%
- 7/11 – 16.6%
- 7/12 – 20.3%
- 7/13 – 22.2%
- 7/14 – 20.0%
- 7/15 – 18.6%
- 7/16 – 18.3%
- 7/17 – 17.5%
- 7/18 – 20.6%
- 7/19 – 22.7%
- 7/20 – 19.2%
- 7/21 – 16.6%
- 7/22 – 18.5%
BROWARD
- 6/13 – 2.7%
- 6/14 – 5.1%
- 6/15 – 7.6%
- 6/16 – 9.8%
- 6/17 – 7.3%
- 6/18 – 8.9%
- 6/19 – 9.7%
- 6/20 – 9.6%
- 6/21 – 6.1%
- 6/22 – 10.2%
- 6/23 – 10.7%
- 6/24 – 6.4%
- 6/25 – 11.4%
- 6/26 – 10.2%
- 6/27 – 10.4%
- 6/28 – 12.0%
- 6/29 – 13.5%
- 6/30 – 14.7%
- 7/1 – 13.5%
- 7/2 – 16.2%
- 7/3 – 14.0%
- 7/4 – 16.3%
- 7/5 – 15.9%
- 7/6 – 12.9%
- 7/7 – 14.0%
- 7/8 – 22.5%
- 7/9 – 14.9%
- 7/10 – 15.8%
- 7/11 – 13.4%
- 7/12 – 13.8%
- 7/13 – 16.0%
- 7/14 – 14.8%
- 7/15 – 16.6%
- 7/16 – 14.3%
- 7/17 – 13.7%
- 7/18 – 12.6%
- 7/19 – 17.6%
- 7/20 – 15.1%
- 7/21 – 12.4%
- 7/22 – 14.1%
The Florida Department of Health confirmed last week that some private laboratories were not reporting negative COVID-19 test results to them as required by the state, leading to 100% positivity rates being reported for those labs.
“The Department immediately began working with those labs to ensure that all results were being reported in order to provide comprehensive and transparent data,” department of health spokeswoman Olga Connor said.
Hospitals and testing
Hospital leaders and medical workers on the front lines are closely watching dwindling bed space and some have had to increase their ICU capacity to treat patients.
Jackson and Memorial are among the health systems that have suspended non-emergency inpatient procedures to protect that capacity.
The state tracks its hospital space by county and by facility, which can be seen here.
More residents, meanwhile, are going out to get tested for COVID-19, which has led to longer lines and delays with getting results back.
The state has added self-swab testing at some of its sites — including Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale — in an attempt to speed up the process.
Latest totals
The United States has passed 4 million confirmed cases, with over 143,000 deaths from COVID-19, the highest numbers in the world. Over 1.2 million Americans have been deemed recovered, according to data compiled from various sources by Johns Hopkins University.
Worldwide, the number of COVID-19 cases reported has surpassed 15.3 million. There have been more than 625,000 deaths worldwide attributed to the pandemic, with over 8.7 million being declared recovered.
Florida’s daily new cases have trended as follows:
- Thursday: 10,249
- Wednesday: 9,785
- Tuesday: 9,440
- Monday: 10,347
- Sunday: 12,478
- Saturday: 10,328
- Friday: 11,466
- July 16: 13,965
- July 15: 10,181
- July 14: 9,194
- July 13: 12,624
- July 12: 15,300
- July 11: 10,360
- July 10: 11,433
- July 9: 8,935
- July 8: 9,989
- July 7: 7,347
- July 6: 6,336
- July 5: 10,059
- July 4: 11,458
- July 3: 9,488
- July 2: 10,109
- July 1: 6,563
- June 30: 6,093
- June 29: 5,266
- June 28: 8,530
- June 27: 9,585
- June 26: 8,942
- June 25: 5,004
- June 24: 5,511
- June 23: 3,289
- June 22: 2,926
- June 21: 3,494
- June 20: 4,049
- June 19: 3,822
- June 18: 3,207
- June 17: 2,610
- June 16: 2,783
- June 15: 1,758
- June 14: 2,016
- June 13: 2,581
- June 12: 1,902
- June 11: 1,698
- June 10: 1,371
- June 9: 1,096