South Florida daily COVID-19 death toll spikes to 63

Image via AP.

South Florida’s tri-county area saw one of its worst daily death tolls since the summer spike Thursday, as another 63 people died after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

That’s more than double the death toll of 31 one day prior. Thursday marks the 13th day out of the last 14 that at least 31 people died from COVID-19 in the tri-county area. Thursday’s death toll was the worst out of that two-week stretch.

In total, 9,319 people have died after contracting the coronavirus in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties alone. Though Thursday saw a spike in newly-reported deaths, those totals remain mostly steady week-to-week in all three major South Florida counties.

New cases are still headed downward. The region recorded 2,919 new cases Thursday. That’s a jump from the previous day, but week-to-week trends are still heading in the right direction.

The case positivity rate is also dropping week-to-week, indicating the dip in cases is not simply due to a reduction in testing, but rather due to the virus spreading more slowly.

That could be due in part to the state’s ongoing vaccination efforts. But while new cases are dropping, people infected during the post-holiday surge are still suffering the worst effects of the virus.

South Florida’s sustained death toll of 30+ shows no sign of stopping just yet. The vaccine may be helping new cases subside, but the virus remains deadly and still poses a threat to at-risk groups. Data through next week will show whether a reprieve is on the horizon, or whether the death toll continues to tick up.

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

Miami-Dade

— Jan. 14-20: 39 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 21 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,225 new confirmed cases per day, 9% positivity rate

— Jan. 21-27: 39 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 22 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,938 new confirmed cases per day, 8% positivity rate

— Jan. 28-Feb. 3: 34 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 21 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,668 new confirmed cases per day, 7.5% positivity rate

Broward

— Jan. 14-20: 21 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 8 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,076 new confirmed cases per day, 8.2% positivity rate

— Jan. 21-27: 24 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 9 newly-reported deaths per day, 988 new confirmed cases per day, 8.3% positivity rate

— Jan. 28-Feb. 3: 27 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 10 newly-reported deaths per day, 916 new confirmed cases per day, 7.8% positivity rate

Palm Beach

— Jan. 14-20: 19 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 8 newly-reported deaths per day, 744 new confirmed cases per day, 8.8% positivity rate

— Jan. 21-27: 15 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 12 newly-reported deaths per day, 656 new confirmed cases per day, 8.4% positivity rate

— Jan. 28-Feb. 3: 16 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 12 newly-reported deaths per day, 630 new confirmed cases per day, 7.9% positivity rate