South Florida records another 4,747 COVID-19 cases, 37 deaths as hospitalizations remain high

South Florida’s tri-county area saw another 37 people die after contracting COVID-19. That’s the third straight day the region has hit that exact mark.

An average of 38 people have died per day in the region over the previous week.

Miami-Dade County recorded another 2,723 new cases in Thursday’s report from the Florida Department of Health, covering data from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning.

Broward County tallied another 1,263 cases, while Palm Beach added 761 cases. That’s more than 4,700 new cases across the region.

The share of tests that came back positive also ticked up from Wednesday to Thursday in all three counties. That number can be volatile from day to day, however. Weekly trends continue to show a dropping positivity rate in each of South Florida’s three major counties.

Hospitals throughout Broward County still have more than 90% of adult intensive care unit (ICU) beds occupied. In Miami-Dade, 88% of those beds are full. That number sits at 74% in Palm Beach County.

Statewide, approximately 84% of adult ICU beds are full.

The average number of hospitalizations per day has been increasing in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach since the beginning of July. Hospitalizations in Broward rose from last week to this week, but remain below the total seen at the beginning of the month. From July 2-8, an average of 40 new individuals were hospitalized. That number was slightly lower — 39 — over the previous seven days.

The number of deaths per day has consistently risen in Broward and Palm Beach counties. However, that number has dropped week-to-week in Miami-Dade.

From July 9-15 a staggering 22 people died per day in Miami-Dade County alone. Over the previous week, that number was 15 deaths per day. That’s still higher than the average in both Broward and Palm Beach, but does represent a week-to-week decrease.

On Wednesday, Miami-Dade County Superintendent Alberto Carvalho cited the county’s COVID-19 statistics to say he does not currently plan on reopening schools in August. A final decision will be made by Aug. 3, according to Carvalho.

Here are some of the weekly numbers for the previous three weeks throughout the South Florida tri-county area:

Miami-Dade

— July 2-8: 31 new hospitalizations per day, 11 deaths per day, 2,241 new confirmed cases per day, 21.3% positivity rate

— July 9-15: 42 new hospitalizations per day, 22 deaths per day, 2,768 new confirmed cases per day, 19.6% positivity rate

— July 16-22: 53 new hospitalizations per day, 15 deaths per day, 2,798 new confirmed cases per day, 18.9% positivity rate

Broward

— July 2-8: 40 new hospitalizations per day, 5 deaths per day, 1,130 new confirmed cases per day, 15.8% positivity rate

— July 9-15: 35 new hospitalizations per day, 5 deaths per day, 1,492 new confirmed cases per day, 14.9% positivity rate

— July 16-22: 39 new hospitalizations per day, 10 deaths per day, 1,357 new confirmed cases per day, 14.3% positivity rate

Palm Beach

— July 2-8: 19 new hospitalizations per day, 8 deaths per day, 537 new confirmed cases per day, 13.7% positivity rate

— July 9-15: 28 new hospitalizations per day, 9 deaths per day, 714 new confirmed cases per day, 11.7% positivity rate

— July 16-22: 29 new hospitalizations per day, 13 deaths per day, 649 new confirmed cases per day, 10.9% 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.