Florida COVID update for Wednesday: Miami positivity rate doubles in a day to top 10%

Howard Cohen
·3 min read

Florida’s Department of Health on Wednesday announced 6,014 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The state also announced 133 total new deaths. Of those who died, 132 were residents, pushing the resident death toll to 31,267.

Miami-Dade’s day-to-day positivity rate more than doubled from Tuesday’s report when the positivity percentage was 4.87% on 39,644 tests given on Monday. On Wednesday, the state reported fewer tests had been given Tuesday — 16,285 — but that the rate went up to 10.07%.

The state has now recorded a known total of 1,924,114 coronavirus cases and 31,829 total deaths. Among those who died, 31,267 were residents and 562 were nonresidents.

On Wednesday, the state reported the results of 81,491 residents tested on Tuesday — a drop from Monday’s 148,412. The state’s percent positivity for first-time testers increased from 5.69% to 6.82%.

In Florida, 1,773,638 have completed the two-dose vaccination series of either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, and 1,400,524 have received the first dose.

COVID vaccine live updates: What you should know in South Florida on Wednesday, March 3

COVID-19 in South Florida

▪ Miami-Dade County reported 1,868 new cases and 22 deaths, putting its pandemic totals at 414,776 cases and 5,503 deaths. In Miami-Dade, 161,017 people have received the first vaccine dose and 191,200 people have completed the two-dose series. Percent positivity increased from 4.87% to 10.07%.

▪ Broward County added 657 cases and 14 deaths, moving its totals to 196,771 cases and 2,422 deaths. In Broward, 114,772 people have received the first vaccine dose and 158,340 have completed the series. Percent positivity increased from 6.10% to 6.62%.

▪ Palm Beach County reported 426 new cases and four deaths, bringing its cumulative count to 121,652 cases and 2,490 deaths. In Palm Beach, 104,459 people have received the first vaccine dose and 166,033 have completed the series. Percent positivity increased from 5.41% to 6.41%.

▪ Monroe County added 19 new cases and no new deaths. Pandemic totals in the Keys are 5,911 cases and 46 deaths. In Monroe, 5,199 people have received the first vaccine dose and 6,973 have completed the series. Percent positivity decreased 6.36% to 4.46%.

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Florida COVID-19 hospitalizations

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.

Government officials use current hospitalizations to decide the next steps in fighting the pandemic.

As of 5:46 p.m. Wednesday, the agency said there were 3,597 people hospitalized. Of these, Miami-Dade had 565; Broward, 516; Palm Beach, 259; and Monroe, six, the agency said.

According to Miami-Dade’s New Normal Dashboard, county hospitals have reported 620 COVID-19 patients, down from 634 on Tuesday. There were 76 new patients and 88 were discharged.

State hospitalization data doesn’t always match Miami-Dade’s New Normal Dashboard data for various reasons, including the frequency of daily updates.