Ryan Nicol
South Florida’s tri-county area notched more than 3,500 new COVID-19 cases in Tuesday’s state report, which pushed the total confirmed cases in Florida across the 1 million mark.
Miami-Dade County, the hardest-hit county in the state this year, added more than 2,100 cases alone in the new report from the Department of Health. Broward County recorded another 800 cases, while Palm Beach County added just under 600 cases.
Week-to-week positivity rates in all three counties slightly dropped in Broward and Palm Beach counties, while it remained about steady in Miami-Dade. That number had been rising since the region moved to Phase Three of the state’s reopening plan, but had begun experiencing a reassuring downswing in recent weeks.
Tuesday’s report, however, showed that rate of decrease slowing — or in Miami-Dade’s case, stopping. That could be a sign another uptick is in South Florida’s future. The recent Thanksgiving holiday prompted some families to gather in large groups. Those gatherings can increase the risk of spread. Data in the ensuing days will show just how much the spread has accelerated.
Newly-reported hospitalizations and deaths are still mostly holding steady in all three counties. Treatment processes have improved since the summer surge, and available data has shown the recent October and early-November upswing didn’t reach the sky-high totals seen in June and July, when Miami-Dade’s positive rate routinely exceeded 20%.
That should mean hospitals won’t be as strained as they were during the summer, at least for now. Celebrations for Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas holiday could change that reality if individuals do not adhere to safety recommendations in light of the pandemic.
Here are some of the weekly numbers for the previous three weeks throughout the South Florida tri-county area:
Miami-Dade
— Nov. 10-16: 11 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,438 new confirmed cases per day, 8.8% positivity rate
— Nov. 17-23: 12 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 9 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,777 new confirmed cases per day, 8.2% positivity rate
— Nov. 24-30: 16 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 7 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,887 new confirmed cases per day, 8.2% positivity rate
Broward
— Nov. 10-16: 22 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 705 new confirmed cases per day, 8.1% positivity rate
— Nov. 17-23: 21 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 839 new confirmed cases per day, 7% positivity rate
— Nov. 24-30: 20 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 804 new confirmed cases per day, 6.8% positivity rate
Palm Beach
— Nov. 10-16: 14 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 3 newly-reported deaths per day, 424 new confirmed cases per day, 8.2% positivity rate
— Nov. 17-23: 14 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 4 newly-reported deaths per day, 495 new confirmed cases per day, 6.9% positivity rate
— Nov. 24-30: 13 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 450 new confirmed cases per day, 6.6% 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.
