FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ More than 10,000 people have now died from COVID-19 in Florida, according to the latest state data released Wednesday.
The updated death toll comes after the state Department of Health reported 174 more resident deaths that happened in recent weeks but were just confirmed, following a surge of coronavirus cases this summer.
Florida, which has tallied over 5,000 deaths just since July 18, became the fifth U.S. state to reach the grim milestone of at least 10,000 deaths. It's New York, New Jersey, California, Texas and now Florida.
The state has reported a daily average of 167 deaths from the disease over the past seven days, the statistics show. The total to date is 10,067 victims, including 135 nonresidents.
Still, the state has more hopeful signs in its battle with the virus: the daily testing positivity rate has remained under 10%, and it just dropped to 7.1%, its lowest level since it was 7.3% on June 15. The state says it processed 67,822 test results on Tuesday.
Positivity _ the percentage of people testing positive for the first time out of those tested _ is a figure that health experts say shows the prevalence of the disease in the population.
The state posted 4,115 new cases on Wednesday, up from Tuesday's 3,838 new cases and Monday's 2,678 cases. For most of July, Florida posted over 10,000 cases per day. The cases reported on a single day follow a lag between the collection of swabs over several days and the confirmation of positive results.
Other encouraging trends this month are a decline in the number of people hospitalized and seeking care in emergency rooms for COVID-19-like symptoms.
For the week of July 5, there were 16,036 visits to hospital ERs for COVID-like illness. That dropped to 4,835 visits for the week of Aug. 9, the latest data available.
SOUTH FLORIDA
South Florida, which accounts for 29% of Florida's population, reported 1,646 new cases in the past day, or 40% of the daily total for the state.
Broward County: 341 new coronavirus cases were reported Wednesday, bringing the total to 67,534. The median age of Florida residents infected in the county is 39. A total of 1,075 people in Broward have died from the virus, 24 more than reported Tuesday.
Palm Beach County: 202 new cases, bringing the total to 39,662. The median age of those infected in the county is 41. A total of 1,038 people have died, 16 more than reported the previous day.
Miami-Dade County: 1,103 new cases, bringing the total to 148,093. The median age of those infected in the county is 43. A total of 2,182 people have died. That's 40 more than reported Tuesday.
TESTING AND POSITIVITY RATE
A total of 4.3 million people have been swabbed in Florida since the pandemic began, producing a positivity rate of 13.53%. The state reports that 584,047 people have tested positive, and 3.72 million people have tested negative. At the end of May, Florida's overall positivity rate was about 5.6%.
In South Florida, the daily positivity rates on Wednesday were 6.1% for Broward, a drop from Tuesday's 7.6%; 9.7% for Miami-Dade, down from 10.5%; and 5.8% for Palm Beach County, down from 5.6% the prior day.
That's the lowest rate for Broward County since it was 6.1% on June 21. All three counties have experienced declines in positivity over the past month; Miami-Dade was at 20% on July 15.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
Across the state, 5,312 people were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 as of 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. The state's online report updates several times throughout the day.
The number of people in hospitals for COVID-19 has been declining this month as has the number of people in intensive care units. The total hospitalized for the disease two weeks ago was about 7,620; and four weeks ago, it was about 9,500.
In South Florida, 2,060 people were hospitalized as of Wednesday afternoon. Broward County reported 709, Palm Beach County had 331, and Miami-Dade had 1,020, the most in the state.
These figures also represent declines. One week ago, Broward County hospitals had 771 patients with the virus, Palm Beach County had 423 and Miami-Dade had 1,365, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
DEATHS
Statewide: The official COVID-19 report, updated Wednesday, shows 9,932 Florida resident deaths plus 135 nonresidents who died in the state.
COVID-19 is the state's deadliest infectious disease. Throughout 2019, there were 2,703 deaths attributed to the flu and pneumonia in Florida, records show.
Seniors: At least 4,179 deaths have occurred among residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, a figure that represents 42.1% of the state total for coronavirus deaths of residents.
Miami-Dade County has the highest number of long-term care facility deaths, with 665, or 15.9% of the total. Palm Beach County has had 423 deaths, or 10.1%, and Broward accounted for 313 deaths, or 7.5%.
