COVID-19 Positivity Rates Continue to Decline in Florida, Per Health Department Data – NBC 6 South Florida
What to Know
- 3,779 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases brought the state’s tally to more than 573,000 Sunday
- The positivity rates for all tests and new cases from this last week are the lowest in the state in about two months
- Miami-Dade and Broward counties have combined for more than 211,700 coronavirus cases, about 37% of the state’s total count
Florida added only 3,779 new coronavirus cases Sunday, largely the result of the typically low number of test results being received and reported by the state Department of Health on weekends. The state now has 573,416 reported cases.
The share of all those tests coming back Saturday that were positive fell below 11% for the third straight day and was only 7.8%, when retests of those who were previously positive are excluded.
The positivity rates for both all tests and new cases for all of last week are lowest in the state in about two months.
The state confirmed another 107 COVID-related deaths on Sunday, bringing the death toll for residents to 9,452. Half of those deaths occurred more than 10 days ago, as it takes the state some time to confirm deaths are related to the virus.
An additional 135 non-residents have died in Florida from virus-related causes.
Sunday’s report included results of more than 58,200 tests. More than 4,230,000 have been tested in Florida to-date.
While much publicity is given to case numbers, experts say the positivity rate can be a more valuable metric to examine and, as it is statewide, it is also showing encouraging signs in the two hardest hit counties.
The positivity rate for Miami-Dade, the hardest hit county, continued to decline, down to 10.3% from 15.4% just over two weeks ago. Broward’s rate ticked up a bit Saturday, to 8.4%, but continues to trend downward over several days.
Miami-Dade County’s case total rose Sunday by 900 to 145,307, and the county’s virus-related deaths rose by 10 to 2,057.
In Broward County, there were 66,447 COVID-19 cases reported, a daily increase of about 430, along with 940 virus-related deaths, 26 more than Saturday.
Palm Beach County had 39,129 cases and 992 virus-related deaths Sunday, while Monroe County had 1,633 cases and 13 deaths.
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