Miami-Dade County’s COVID-19 daily hospitalizations have now tripled in less than a month

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Daily hospitalizations in Miami-Dade County due to COVID-19 are continuing to climb, now tripling in less than a month according to Department of Health data.

From Dec. 14-20, Florida’s most populous county recorded an average of 33 hospitalizations per day. Compare that to the week of Nov. 18-24, when that number sat at just 11 hospitalizations per day.

Hospitalizations have not reached the high marks seen during the summer, when Miami-Dade often recorded upwards of 50 to 60 new hospitalizations per day. The data are moving in the wrong direction there though, with just 19 newly-reported hospitalizations from Dec. 7-13.

The coronavirus numbers are largely trending upward across South Florida’s tri-county area, though Miami-Dade’s hospitalization numbers are arguably the most concerning.

Newly-reported hospitalizations are up week-to-week in Broward and Palm Beach counties as well. Newly-reported deaths are also up in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, though are holding steady week-to-week in Broward.

New confirmed cases have been rising in all three counties, though that’s partially due to a testing increase. The positivity rate — the share of tests which come back positive — has largely held steady across South Florida, though with slight week-to-week upticks in Broward and Palm Beach.

The region hasn’t seen a significant surge following the Thanksgiving holiday, as some experts feared and as many other parts of the country are now experiencing.

But those gatherings did clearly reverse an otherwise positive trend in South Florida. The numbers were declining around Thanksgiving. That reduction has been reversed, with numbers on the upswing just days before families likely gather in large numbers once again for the Christmas holiday.

Monday’s report saw 68 newly-reported deaths in the tri-county area, with nearly 3,900 new cases overall.

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

Miami-Dade

— Nov. 30-Dec. 6: 25 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 14 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,184 new confirmed cases per day, 9.1% positivity rate

— Dec. 7-13: 19 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 10 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,129 new confirmed cases per day, 8.6% positivity rate

— Dec. 14-20: 33 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 14 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,280 new confirmed cases per day, 8.6% positivity rate

Broward

— Nov. 30-Dec. 6: 24 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 7 newly-reported deaths per day, 974 new confirmed cases per day, 7.8% positivity rate

— Dec. 7-13: 22 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 884 new confirmed cases per day, 7.1% positivity rate

— Dec. 14-20: 25 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,037 new confirmed cases per day, 7.2% positivity rate

Palm Beach

— Nov. 30-Dec. 6: 12 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 551 new confirmed cases per day, 7.5% positivity rate

— Dec. 7-13: 13 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 6 newly-reported deaths per day, 513 new confirmed cases per day, 7% positivity rate

— Dec. 14-20: 17 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 9 newly-reported deaths per day, 577 new confirmed cases per day, 7.3% 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.