Florida reports 1,533 new COVID-19 cases, after weekend of cleaning data

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s Department of Health on Monday reported 1,533 new cases of COVID-19 and 48 additional deaths after a weekend of cleaning the data.

Monday’s number represents a drop-off in deaths and new cases. Florida had been averaging about 2,400 cases and 90 deaths per day on the state reports.

The newly reported data comes after Florida health officials announced Saturday they were delaying the release of the coronavirus report because a laboratory on Friday night dumped about 400,000 test results that had previously been submitted. The data dump damaged the ability to accurately process the state’s much-watched pandemic data.

Initially, officials blamed the problem on a private company called Helix Laboratory, saying it would take time to “de-duplicate” the results. On Sunday, health officials re-reported Friday’s numbers along with Saturday’s numbers.

But Monday, the Florida Department of Health changed its previous explanation and said the private lab was not at fault. It said Helix’s submission of test results was “significantly lower” than 400,000 and that a technical issued caused the data’s replication.

“This was not the fault of Helix or the Department of Health,” health officials said in a written statement. “We are working with technical experts to ensure this does not happen with subsequent data submissions.”

The state reported a total of 736,024 positive cases as of Monday. In total, there have been 15,412 Florida resident deaths from the virus and 187 non-resident deaths.

Overall, health officials reported that 5.57 million people in Florida have been tested for the virus since the pandemic began.

The state reported a daily positivity rate for Sunday of 4.28%, which compares with a two-day average for Friday and Saturday of 4.24%. Public health officials have said it’s safe to reopen when the rate is under 5%.

Other tallies show a higher positivity rate depending on the source and method. For example, Johns Hopkins University, which doesn’t exclude repeated results for the same individual, reported Florida’s positivity rate to be 13.23%.

Florida Department of Health said Monday’s numbers reflect the results of 37,456 tests. Sunday’s numbers reflected results from 114,674 tests.

SOUTH FLORIDA

Broward County: 110 additional confirmed coronavirus cases of the disease and two new deaths. The county has a known total of 79,434 cases and 1,469 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Palm Beach County: 49 additional cases of COVID-10 and three new deaths. The county now has 48,004 confirmed cases and 1,449 deaths.

Miami-Dade County: 279 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six new deaths, The county now has 175,397 confirmed cases and 3,445 deaths.

TESTING AND POSITIVITY RATES

More than 5.57 million people have been tested in Florida since the pandemic began, producing a cumulative positivity rate of 13.2%, state data show. In total, 736,024 people have tested positive and 4.83 million have tested negative.

In Broward County, 4,654 residents were tested on Sunday leading to a positivity rate of 2.36%. In Palm Beach County, 2,878 people were tested leading to a positivity rate of 1.95%. In Miami-Dade County, 6,902 people were tested leading to a positivity rate of 4.33%

Overall, 79,434 people in Broward County have tested positive for COVID-19, 48,004 in Palm Beach County have tested positive for COVID-19 and 175,397 people in Miami-Dade have tested positive. The total reflects residents, residents not in Florida and non-residents.

HOSPITALIZATIONS AND DEATHS

As of noon Monday, 2,203 people across the state were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, up from 2,122 at the same time on Sunday.

Broward County reported 179 patients hospitalized; Palm Beach County had 116 and Miami-Dade had the most in the state with 277 people hospitalized, 21 more than Sunday.

The online report from the state Agency for Health Care Administration updates several times throughout the day. Hospitalizations hit a peak in late July of about 9,500 patients.

Since the pandemic began, a total of 46,015 residents have been hospitalized for the disease in Florida, according to a separate report by the state health department.

Deaths: Monday’s report shows a total of 15,412 Florida resident deaths. In addition, 187 non-resident deaths have been attributed to the virus in the state. (down from 188 non-resident deaths reported on Sunday, reflecting an adjustment by health officials)

Florida’s COVID-19 death rate is 11th among states with 70 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. That’s higher than the national rate of 64 deaths per 100,000.

Long-term care facilities: At least 6,259 deaths have occurred among residents and staff at nursing homes and assisted-living centers throughout Florida. That’s 29 additional deaths from Sunday’s report.

Miami-Dade County has had the highest number of deaths at long-term care facilities, with 823 and Palm Beach County was second with 648. Broward has had 426 deaths.

NATIONAL AND GLOBAL VIEW

U.S.: At least 7.77 million people in the country have been infected with the novel coronavirus and 214,793 are known to have died as of noon on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

World: At least 37.59 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,077,836 people have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins. The U.S. has had the most COVID-19 cases and deaths of any country. The U.S. has 4.3% of the world’s population, but 20.8% of the world’s cases and 20% of the world’s deaths.

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