South Florida tri-county area adds 1,586 COVID-19 cases, share of positive tests dips day-to-day
Nasal tests may not be as accurate as you'd like.

coronavirus nasal swab
The region continues to show troubling trends when compared with data from earlier this month.

South Florida’s three major counties have added nearly 1,600 COVID-19 cases, according to new state data released Thursday.

One bright spot: the share of tests which came back positive dropped day-to-day after the region saw jumps the previous two days.

The positivity rate can fluctuate from day to day, however, and the week-to-week trend continues to show troubling signs for the region.

Thursday’s report saw another 387 cases in Broward County, bringing the previous week’s average daily cases to 366. One week prior, the county saw just 233 new cases per day.

That jump is not just due to increased testing. A higher share of individuals are also testing positive even as testing increases.

The positivity rate Thursday dropped to 6.5% after sitting at 10.2% and 11% in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s reports, respectively. That dip will need to hold to bring those week-to-week averages down, however.

The numbers were even more troubling in Miami-Dade County, which added 889 cases in Thursday’s report.

In the midst of that week-to-week increase, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts will host a presidential debate in October.

Like Broward, Miami-Dade’s day-to-day positivity rate dropped. The same was true in Palm Beach County.

Palm Beach’s week-to-week trend is not as jarring, but that’s in part because the region saw an earlier jump in the share of tests coming back positive.

Palm Beach hit a sustained double-digit positivity rate earlier than Broward and Miami-Dade. While the lack of a sharp increase is welcome news, the county still faces concerns.

Officials have slowed Palm Beach County’s reopening and on Tuesday county commissioners unanimously approved an order mandating masks be worn in public.

Leaders in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have promised increased enforcement of social distancing mandates as well.

In all three major South Florida counties, the median age for new positives has sat in the mid-30s or low-40s. That younger cohort may not be susceptible to longer-term damage or death caused by the virus as some of the more vulnerable population.

However, health officials worry that if the virus continues spreading among younger Floridians, it makes it easier to continue spread to older or immunocompromised individuals, which could feel the virus’s worst effects.

Ryan Nicol

Ryan Nicol covers news out of South Florida for Florida Politics. Ryan is a native Floridian who attended undergrad at Nova Southeastern University before moving on to law school at Florida State. After graduating with a law degree he moved into the news industry, working in TV News as a writer and producer, along with some freelance writing work. If you'd like to contact him, send an email to [email protected].



#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories