MIAMI — Florida on Monday reported 31,164 more COVID-19 cases and 902 deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Miami Herald calculations of CDC data.
All but eight of the newly reported deaths occurred after Aug. 2, with 70% of those people dying in the last two weeks, according to Herald calculations of data published by the CDC. The majority of deaths happened during Florida’s latest surge in COVID-19 cases, fueled by the delta variant.
In all, Florida has recorded at least 3,231,846 confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide and 44,553 deaths.
In the last seven days, on average, the state has added 262 deaths and 21,301 cases each day, according to Herald calculations.
The jump in the number of reported cases and deaths is due to the newest way deaths and cases are counted and the agency not reporting numbers on Sundays. The numbers include totals from the two weekend days.
The CDC implemented the change earlier this month, causing occasional one-day aberrations like the 901 additional deaths on Thursday and 726 more deaths reported on Aug. 23.
Behind our reporting
The Herald publishes the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after each update by the agency.
On Aug. 10, the Florida Department of Health changed the way it reported new cases and deaths to the CDC. Cases and deaths used to be logged as total new cases reported on a single day. Now, Florida is reporting cases by the “case date,” according to the CDC, rather than the date the case was logged into the system. The result of this change is a lag in cases by date and a number of cases back-filling over time.
The Herald will continue to report the difference in total cases and deaths from one day to the next in stories about daily new cases and deaths, as this is consistent with the way data have been presented in daily stories since the beginning of the pandemic.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida
There were 15,788 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida on Monday, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 257 Florida hospitals. That is 10 more patients than Sunday’s COVID-19 patient population, putting an end to a four-day streak of total hospitalized COVID-19 patients decreasing.
COVID-19 patients also accounted for 27.45% of all hospital patients.
Of the people hospitalized in Florida, 3,494 were in intensive care unit beds, an increase of 17. That represents 53.12% of the state’s ICU hospital beds from 257 hospitals reporting.
