MIAMI _ The number of new confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Florida rose to 45,588 with Sunday's update, the increase of 777 being less than many weekdays but more than each of the last three Sundays.
South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe counties) accounts for most of that increase in COVID-19, but only three of the nine new deaths in Florida.
Weekend updates from the Florida Department of Health, especially those on Sundays, tend to show a less dramatic rise in cases and deaths. This is the fourth Sunday of once-a-day updates, and the Sunday case numbers had been going steadily down during the last three weeks: 689, 615, 595. Then, Sunday: 777.
The positive test rate for the state continued to drop, down to 7.0% from 7.1%. Also, the nine new deaths are the second lowest among the four single-update Sundays.
Of the state's increase, 423(54.4%) came from South Florida and most of that from Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. South Florida also added 49 hospitalizations, a jump in the region from previous Sundays of 39 and 40.
Among South Florida's counties:
_ Miami-Dade added 292 cases and two deaths, leaving those totals at 15,658 and 561, respectively. There were another nine hospitalizations, so 2,414 have been hospitalized at some point in the pandemic by novel coronavirus. The positive test rate dropped slightly to 12.4% from 12.5%.
_ Broward's increase in cases was a relatively low 42 to 6,243. The county saw one more death (279), but 23 more hospitalizations (1,324). The positive test rate remained 8.5%.
Palm Beach's positive test rate remained at 9.1% and it added no deaths (still 275). But the case count jumped by 84 to 4,524 and the hospitalizations did so by 17 to 843.
Monroe County still has the lowest South Florida positive test percentage, but it edged up to 4.9% after five new cases brought the Monroe total to 100. Death toll and hospitalization count remained the same at three and 12, respectively.
Despite the daily reports of new cases and deaths, local and state officials have previously said that decreases in the daily total of reported cases are signs that social distancing measures are working.
Officials are also relying on hospitalization data. Unlike testing, which might be limited or take days to report results, hospitalizations can help give officials a real-time visual of how many people are severely ill with COVID-19.
Consistent reporting hampers the reliability of that statistic. The health department says it doesn't "have a figure" to reflect the number of people currently hospitalized and only provides the total number of hospitalizations in its statewide and county-level data. Hospitals in Miami-Dade self-report a number of key metrics, including hospitalizations, to the county. Some report consistently, others don't.
Also, though testing sites have increased, there's still a relatively small number of people being tested. The recommended numbers of daily tests needed varies by experts, but the dean of the University of South Florida's College of Medicine told the governor Florida needs to test about 33,000 people every day.
Florida reached the recommended mark for the first time on May 2 and has reached it erratically since then. Sunday's update saw an increase of 22,286 tests around the state.
Health experts told the Miami Herald in April they were concerned the number of pending COVID-19 tests listed by the state is an undercount because Florida reports only the number of Floridians waiting to get test results from state labs, not private ones _ and private labs are completing the vast majority of the tests.
