Ryan Nicol
Health officials have now recorded more than 125,000 COVID-19 cases in South Florida’s tri-county area since the onset of the pandemic.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties added another 4,362 cases in Wednesday’s Department of Health report. That report covers data from Tuesday to Wednesday morning.
Miami-Dade County added 2,514 cases, while Broward recorded 1,339 new cases and Palm Beach added 509.
That puts the region at 129,258 confirmed coronavirus cases overall.
The data did show a drop in the positivity rate after Tuesday’s report showed a near-record high in South Florida. On Tuesday’s report, covering Monday test results, those three counties had a positivity rate of 18.8%. That’s the second-highest mark since the resurgence of the virus over the past several weeks.
In Wednesday’s report, covering Tuesday test results, that number dropped to 16.6%. That’s still a worrying number, but is the fifth-lowest rate for South Florida in the previous two weeks. In Miami-Dade County, the rate dropped week-to-week for the first time since mid-May.
Officials in the region — and particularly in Miami-Dade County — have increased social distancing enforcement in recent weeks, with some even pulling back on reopening measures.
Hospitals have also seen strain, as the state was forced to send 100 emergency health care workers — including around 75 ICU-ready nurses — to assist the Jackson Health System in Miami-Dade.
The death rate in South Florida has continued to decrease so far. Wednesday’s report showed the death rate 1.37% in Broward County, 1.68% in Miami-Dade County and 2.81% in Palm Beach County. In recent weeks, those numbers have largely dropped day-to-day at a faster rate than the state’s overall death rate.
Still, the previous week of data shows the positivity rate appearing to stabilize in the region. The number has slightly risen week-to-week in Broward County, but has dropped in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Here are the weekly numbers for the previous three weeks throughout the South Florida tri-county area:
Miami-Dade
— June 24-30: 1,448 new cases per day, 15.9% positivity rate
— July 1-7: 2,282 new cases per day, 20.5% positivity rate
— July 8-14: 2,616 new cases per day, 20.2% positivity rate
Broward
— June 24-30: 560 new cases per day, 10.9% positivity rate
— July 1-7: 1,079 new cases per day, 14.7% positivity rate
— July 8-14: 1,488 new cases per day, 15.3% positivity rate
Palm Beach
— June 24-30: 415 new cases per day, 10.7% positivity rate
— July 1-7: 535 new cases per day, 13.5% positivity rate
— July 8-14: 645 new cases per day, 12% positivity rate
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Editor’s note on methodology: The Florida Department of Health releases new data every morning around 10:45 a.m. The total number reported in those daily reports include the previous day’s totals as well as the most up to date data as of about 9:30 a.m.
Florida Politics uses the report-over-report increase to document the number of new cases each day because it represents the most up-to-date data available. Some of the more specific data, including positivity rates and demographics, considers a different data set that includes only cases reported the previous day.
This is important to note because the DOH report lists different daily totals than our methodology to show day-over-day trends. Their numbers do not include non-residents who tested positive in the state and they only include single-day data, therefore some data in the DOH report may appear lower than what we report.
Our methodology was established based on careful consideration among our editorial staff to capture both the most recent and accurate trends.
