MIAMI — Florida's Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed 7,985 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's known total to 1,073,770. Also, 96 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the statewide resident toll to 19,378.
Two new nonresident deaths were also announced, bringing the nonresident toll to 249.
Florida's total case count is the third highest in the country, after California and Texas, according to The New York Times database of U.S. cases.
Confirmed COVID-19 Cases in South Florida:
— Miami-Dade County reported 1,851 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the known total to 246,915, according to Florida's Department of Health. The county's COVID-19 death toll was also reduced by eight, bringing it to 3,926. At times, the Florida Department of Health will revise the numbers of death downward without explanation. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 8.53% to 7.88%. The 14-day percent positivity average was 8.61%, according to Miami-Dade County's "New Normal" Dashboard.
— Broward County reported 988 additional confirmed cases and no new deaths. The county now has a known total of 115,414 cases and 1,711 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases decreased from 7.61% to 6.97%.
— Palm Beach County saw 524 additional confirmed cases and eight new deaths. The county now has 69,855 confirmed cases and 1,739 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 7.19% to 8.03%.
— Monroe County confirmed 37 additional cases and no new deaths. The county has a known total of 3,641 cases and 28 deaths. Percent positivity for new cases increased from 11.50% to 13.79%.
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.
Previously, the state was providing only the total number of hospitalizations in its statewide and county-level data. Miami-Dade was an exception, with hospitals self-reporting a number of key metrics, including hospitalizations, to the county, which has made this data public for several months.
As of 7:46 EST p.m. Tuesday, there were 4,558 COVID-19 patients admitted into hospitals throughout the state, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration dashboard. This is a big jump from what the state was reporting last month though it's still less than early August, when more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted into hospitals throughout the state.
Of Tuesday's hospitalizations, 812 were in Miami-Dade, 420 in Broward, 302 in Palm Beach and three 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 decreased from 906 to 870, according to Miami-Dade County's "New Normal" dashboard. According to Tuesday's data, 168 people were discharged and 102 people were admitted.
The state has had a total of 56,906 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's 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 112,229 people tested on Monday. The positivity rate of new cases (people who tested positive for the first time) increased from 7.64% to 7.92%.
If retests are included — people who have tested positive once and are being tested for a second time — the positivity rate increased from 9.87% to 9.91%, according to the report.
