FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida, again one of the nation's coronavirus hot spots, reported Tuesday that another 4,353 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the state.
Even with Tropical Storm Eta forcing many testing sites to close in recent days, the state is showing no signs of letting up on a three-week trend of rising virus cases and hospitalizations.
Just in the past seven days, the Florida Department of Health reported 6,820 new cases Sunday, the most since mid-August, 5,245 cases on Friday and 6,257 cases on Thursday.
Public health experts blame the increases on factors that include the Sept. 25 removal of restrictions on bars and restaurant capacities, and more people not following advice from doctors to maintain social distancing and wear facial coverings.
As of the latest official numbers Tuesday, Florida has confirmed 852,174 total cases of COVID-19.
Also, the state reported another 69 deaths from the virus, lifting the total number of fatalities in Florida to 17,460.
TESTING AND POSITIVITY RATES
Public health experts say the virus is considered under control when the COVID-19 test positivity rate is under 5%. Florida exceeds 5% by both of its measures of assessing the rate for testing of residents.
In the first calculation, the state reported a daily positivity rate of 8.34%, up from 8.03% Monday. This method of calculating positivity counts new infections only, but also counts repeat negative tests, which skews the figure downward.
According to the state, Tuesday's new case numbers reflect the results of 51,732 COVID-19 tests of Florida residents received from labs in the past day, up from 47,977 results reported Monday.
In the second calculation, which includes retests of people who were previously diagnosed, the statewide daily positivity rate is 9.64%, based on the latest results for 56,648 residents. That's up from 10% the previous day.
CHILD INFECTIONS
COVID-19 infections among children under age 18 are rising by hundreds of cases each day in Florida. Tuesday's data show 73,737 cases statewide, an increase of 414 from the previous day
Records show 621,002 kids have been swabbed since the beginning of the pandemic. About 11.9% of them have tested positive.
Overall, the statistics show 15,421 cases among children in Miami-Dade County, most in the state, followed by 9,795 cases in Broward. There have been 4,473 confirmed infections in Palm Beach County kids.
The statewide report also shows 873 children have been treated in hospitals for COVID-19 illness since March; nine have died. The death total has been the same since Sept. 26.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
The number of people hospitalized in Florida for COVID-19 went up in the past day, updated state records show.
As of noon Tuesday, 3,027 people were hospitalized in Florida with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. That's an increase of 129 patients in the past 24 hours.
The online report from the state Agency for Health Care Administration updates frequently throughout the day. Hospitalizations hit a peak in late July of about 9,500 patients. Four weeks ago, the number was 2,127.
Since the pandemic began, 50,872 residents have been hospitalized for the disease, state health officials say.
DEATHS
Statewide: The state's pandemic data report shows a total of 17,248 Floridians had died from COVID-19. In addition, the deaths of 212 non-residents have been attributed to the virus. Most of the fatalities reported Tuesday happened in recent weeks but were just confirmed in the past day.
Florida has the fourth-highest total of COVID-19 deaths among the states, behind California, Texas and New York, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Florida's death rate since the pandemic began ranks 11th among states, at 80 deaths per 100,000 people, the CDC reports. That's higher than the national rate of 71 deaths per 100,000.
