WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's coronavirus cases passed 900,000 with an additional 7,925 infections in one day, compared with 7,459 the day before, as deaths rose by 87, which was 2 more than the day before. And with tests hitting 104,996 reported from labs Tuesday, the state's first-time daily positivity rate decreased from 8.61 percent to 8.16 and Palm Beach County from 9.9 percent to 8.88, the Florida Health Department announced Wednesday afternoon.
The state considers anything 5 percent and above a "danger" threshold. Tests spiked Sunday to a record 146,073 one day after going under 50,000 for only the second in time in two weeks as sites were closed last weekend and thereafter because of the Topical Storm Eta and Veterans Day on Wednesday.
Cases reached 905,248, joining Texas and California in surpassing the milestone. Florida's infections passed 800,000 19 days ago on Oct. 30, 700,000 on Sept. 27, after going above 600,000 Aug. 23, 500,000 on Aug. 5, 400,000 on July 24, 300,000 on July 15, 200,000 on July 5, 100,000 on June 22.
Cases have been trending up in the state and Sunday's 10,101 was the most since 12,199 on July 25. The record is 15,200, also in July.
On Monday cases rose by 4,663 and last Wednesday they went up 5,938.
Friday's 6,933 was the highest since 8,109 on Aug. 12.
And Monday, Nov. 2, the cases were 3,924 after infections had exceeded 4,000 for 12 of the past 13 days. Before that date, the previous time they were under 4,000 was Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2,331 and the lowest since 2,144 on Oct. 21.
On Monday, Sept. 29, the 738 cases were fewest since June 2 when there were 617 additional infections. Then, they increased to 3,266 on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Although infections in Florida are trending upward like in most other states in the nation, new cases had been exponentially lower than its U.S. daily high in July that was surpassed Friday by Illinois with 15,415.
Despite a surge in cases, deaths have been trending down in Florida with the most recent triple-digit 105 on Oct. 21. They previously were the last highest 141 on Thursday, Oct. 15. The record was 276 deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Tuesday's increase was 85 after Monday's 42 and Sunday 29. Last Wednesday it was 52.
The Sunday, Nov. 1 increase of 21 was the lowest since 20 on Monday, Oct. 26. Two Sundays ago, they rose by 12, which was the least since 5 on Sept. 23.
Palm Beach County increased by 6 at 1,641 deaths, which is second to Miami-Dade and ahead of Broward after 8 Tuesday.
St. Lucie County rose by 1 to 352 with Martin remaining at 170, Indian River at 127 and Okeechobee stayed at 43 with its first two fatalities on July 25
Broward rose by 10 and Miami-Dade 8.
With a net increase of 25 deaths in South Florida of the 87 state total, there are 7,320, which is 41.3 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.
The number of deaths over one week is 431, an average of 62, compared with 378 the previous week.
In one week cases have risen by 47,236 for an average of 6,748 at 5.2 percent. The previous week the increase was 36,889 with an average of 5,108. The average since the first case, which was 262 days ago, is 3,455 per day.
Florida's total of 905,248 cases is 7.9 percent of the total infections in the U.S., which passed 11 million Sunday and 10 million one week ago Monday, though the state only comprises 6.5 percent of the population.
Palm Beach County's daily cases increased by 402 one day after 400. On Sept. 28, the rise was 27.
Since the first two deaths were announced on March 6, which is 257 days, the death toll has reached 17,731 for an average of 69 per day. Florida's total including nonresidents is 17,951, which increased by 1 to 218.
It took 19 days for the toll to pass from 16,000 to 17,100 on Nov. 7. Deaths passed 16,000 residents, 16,021 on Oct. 19, which is 19 days ago. It took 12 days for Florida's death toll to go from the 15,000 milestone to 16,000, the same to surpass that figure Oct. 7, but nine days to surpass 14,000 and eight to go past 12,000. It was 49 days for Florida's death toll of residents to reach the first 1,000 yet it was only 40 days to more than double. On July 20, there were 5,075 deaths.
State and county increases represent fatalities received by the state Tuesday and not the number of deaths that occurred then. The day someone dies and when it is received by the state can lag for several days. The most deaths the past month: 49 on Oct. 20.
The state report Wednesday identified 55 deaths with 22 previously reported cases added as a fatality for a net increase of 87.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 307 compared with 210 the day before. The state reported Wednesday there are currently 3,352 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 17 less in one day.
Deaths
Since June 16, Florida has climbed seven spots from 11th place in the nation to fourth. And the state is 13th in deaths per million.
Texas is in second place, reporting a U.S.-high 187 deaths Wednesday after state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 19,883. California reported 61 for third place with 18,360. New Jersey, which had been second throughout the pandemic, is in fifth place with 16,655, adding 37 fatalities.
Deaths have had upward and lower trends since the pandemic in Florida. A few months ago they were averaging more than 1,200 a week with one-week figures earlier in the mid 200s.
Palm Beach County increased by 27 deaths over seven days for 1.7 percent with an average of 44 per week since the first death. The U.S. figure is 3.5 percent with the world at 5.0 percent.
Miami-Dade increased to 3,731 with 38 more in seven days and 100 average since the first death. Broward is at 1,608 with the increase of 44 in a week and average of 45 since the first fatality. St. Lucie has gone up by 9 deaths compared with Martin none, Indian River by 1 and Okeechobee none.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 19 states, including Oklahoma's 1,570 with 26 reported Wednesday.
Fourth-place Hillsborough increased by 11 to 877 as Pinellas rose by 3 to 862 in fifth place, Polk by 3 to 657 in sixth, Orange by 1 to 613 in seventh and Lee stayed at 549 in eighth.
The state report Wednesday identified the death of an 86-year-old man from Palm Beach County though the increase was 6. St. Lucie reported a 90-year-old man and a 94-year-old woman though the increase was 1.
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced eight months ago on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 4.2 percent of the state's 21.48 million population, third in the nation and dropped to 20th in cases per million, which has been dropping the last few weeks.
Texas is in first place with 1,048,383, adding 8,489. California is close behind in second at 1,047,789 with an additional U.S.-high 9,811. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fifth at 574,072 with an increase of 5,272.
Thirty states reported at least 2,000 cases, including No. 4 Illinois with 8,489 five days after a U.S. record 15,415 and a total of 597,844.
Two records were set: No. `13 Pennsylvania with 6,486 and No. 37 New Mexico with 2,892, recording more than 2,000 for the second day in a row. Other high numbers: No. 7 Wisconsin with 7,989, No. 10 Ohio with 6,385, No. 11 Michigan with 6,218, No. 15 Indiana with 6,015, No. 16 Missouri with 5,488, No. 5 New York with 5,272, No. 17 Minnesota with 5,094, No. 24 Colorado with 4,650, No. 8 Tennessee with 4,472, No. 23 Iowa with 4,105, No. 32 Kansas with 4,007 (doesn't report data daily), No. 9 North Carolina with 3,367, No. `12 New Jersey with 3,267, No. 14 Arizona with 3,206, No. 6 Georgia with 3,161, No. 26 Utah with 3,071, No. 27 Oklahoma with 3,017.
Miami-Dade's cases of 1,685 compared with 1,882 the day before and Broward's increase was 775 vs. 966. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was Martin 49 vs. 55, St. Lucie 56 vs. 39, Indian River 57 vs. 32 and Okeechobee 17 vs. 4.
Testing
The state is no longer listing a running total of Floridians tested or total tests. Worldometers.info lists Florida with 11,237,905 total tests behind No. 1 California and No. 2 New York with Texas fourth and Illinois fifth.
Florida first-time daily infection rate of tests reported by labs Tuesday was the six time in 14 days it was 8 percent or higher. The rate four days ago of 9.98 was the highest since 10.29 on Aug. 10 and ended three days under 8 percent. The rate Nov. 9 of 8.34 was highest since 9.65 on Aug. 12. The two-week low was 6.28 percent on Nov. 4.
Palm Beach County's percentage was the 10th in two weeks it was 9 percent or less. The rate four days ago of 10.39 was the highest since 10.7 percent on Aug. 3. The 14-day low was 4.63 on Nov. 5. The rate was 1.92 on Oct. 11, which was the smallest since 1.5 percent on May 19.
The state's total daily positivity rate decreased to 9.71 percent on 104,996 tests from 10.39 percent on 94,730 tests. Three days ago there were a record 146,073 tests with a 9.2 percentage. The rate of 11.37 on 49,597tests four days ago was the highest rate since 12.11 on Aug. 16 on 34,423 tests. The last time it was 10 percent or more was 10.33 on Aug. 31. The two-week low was 7.35 percent on Nov. 4. Only 20,987 tests were reported Sept. 27 and the record previous test total record was 142,964 July 11.
Miami-Dade's rate increased to 9.21 percent from 8.94 one day ago, a two-week high of 9.65 four days ago and a two-week low of 5.76 seven days ago. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 7.88 percent one day after 7.96, a two-week high of 8.93 five days ago and a two-week low of 5.98 on Nov. 7.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was 7.27 percent one day after 7.93, a two-week high of 8.99 on Nov. 8, and a low of 3.04 Nov. 7. Martin's rate was a two-week high of 10.14 one day after 7.78, a two-week low of 2.49 Nov. 5. Indian River's rate was 8.02 percent one day after 8.59, a two-week high of 10.09 Nov. 8 and a two-week low of 4.35 on Nov. 7. Okeechobee's rate was 6.75 percent on 221 negative tests one day after 6.98 percent on 40 a two-week high of 19.72 on 57 negative tests on Nov. 6 and a two-week low of 3.15 on Nov. 4. On Nov. 1 it was zero percent on 31 negative tests Nov. 1.
Mortality rate
The mortality rate compares positive cases against deaths. The state's rate was 2.0 percent for all deaths and cases, including nonresidents, compared with 2.2 percent in the United States and 2.4 percent worldwide, which passed 1,354,000 deaths and neared 56.6 million cases Wednesday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate is 2.8 percent compared with Broward at 1.7 percent and Miami-Dade with 1.8 percent. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.5 percent in St. Lucie (-0.1), 2.9 in Martin (-0.1), 2.8 percent in Indian River (-0.1) and Okeechobee 2.3 percent.
Florida has 826 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 774 per million. New York, which represents 13.6 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,753 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 173.7 per million.
Age breakdown
Five deaths are among youths 14 and under, including a 6-year-old from Hillsborough, two 11-year-olds, a boy in Miami-Dade and a girl in Broward. The class hasn't changed since Sept. 26.
Four other juveniles are among the 32 deaths in the 15-24 class, including a 16-year-old girl in Miami-Dade. This class has increased since Sept. 24 and at one time it was 33 then there was a reduction.
A total of 102 people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus with no increase.
A total of 5,612 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 24 in one day.
Ninety-three percent of the fatalities are 55 and older and 61 percent are 75 and older. A smaller percentage of older people have tested positive – 27 percent age 55 and older and 6 percent 75 and older.
At the other end of the age spectrum, there are 15,000 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 138, and 348 were hospitalized, which rose by 3. From ages 5-14, there are 41,144, an increase of 488, with 317 in the hospital at one time, which went up by 2.
From the infant to 54 age group, there are 643,986 of the 892,352 residents' cases. In that group, 1,173 have died, with an increase of 10, for a 0.18 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 759,724 cases. A total of 3,120 have died, with 16 more, for a 0.41 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 14,047 with an increase of 94; Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, increased by 68 to 9,389 followed by Boca Raton at 9,167 up from 9,056, Boynton Beach went to 5,288 from 5,244 and Delray Beach at 4,099 vs. 4,056. A total of 2,040 in the county not designated by a city. In addition, the list of cities includes separate listings of misspellings and miscoded counties.
Port St. Lucie leads the Treasure Coast with 5,902, an increase of 22, followed by Fort Pierce at 3,305, up 30, and Stuart with 2,673, which rose by 23.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, remained at 454 with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 62,637 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 51,115 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 4,394 in Palm Beach County, with 20 more compared with 19 the day before. Martin stayed at 441, St. Lucie rose by 3 to 859, Indian River by 2 to 397 and Okeechobee by 3 to 204.
Long-term care
Forty percent of the deaths, 7,065 are residents and staff of long-term care, including 739 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 856 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 21 and Palm Beach County didn't change.
Nation
Since the first death was reported on Feb. 29, the national toll has risen to 250,520, a rise of 1,848 Wednesday, the most since 1,925 on May 7, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers.info has tabulated 256,254 deaths with an increase of 1,956. And the Covid Project has recorded 241,704 with an increase of 1,869.
Cases rose to 11,527,483, a rise of 170,161, less than the record 184,514 Friday, according to Johns Hopkins. COVID Tracking Project lists the case increase as 164,975, three days after a record 170,333. Worldometers.info has it at as 173,632, behind a record 183,527 four days ago.
Last Wednesday in the U.S., there were 1,388 more deaths and 143,236 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 8,551 at 3.5 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 34,173 with Johns Hopkins reporting 17 more after a high of 799 in April. Hopkins lists confirmed and probable deaths, with the latter not a positive case.
Among other states in the top 10 for deaths: No. 6 Illinois 140, No. 7 Massachusetts 47, No. 8 Pennsylvania 110, No. 9 Georgia 57 and No. 10 Michigan 62.
Also No. 44 Minnesota reported 67, No. 33 Kansas 60, No. 14 Indiana 59, No.13 Ohio 55, No.11 Arizona 53, No. 25 Wisconsin 52. No. 27 Washington, the original epicenter in the U.S., added 21.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 17.8 percent of a record 10,970 deaths Wednesday and 18.9 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.
The one week world death increase was 65,030at 5.0 percent.
Last Wednesday's death increase was 10,168.
Cases increased 615,177 five days after a record 657,432 with 500,00 passing for the first time Oct. 28 and 400,000 for the first time on Oct. 15.
Brazil, which is second behind the United States for deaths, reported 754 to rise to 167,497. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 35,645 cases and is at 5,947,403 in third place.
India reported 38,617 new cases compared with a world-record 97,894 in September for second-place behind the U.S., with 8,912,908. Also, India recorded 474 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to 130,933 and in third place.
Mexico announced 502 more deaths late Wednesday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 99,528 in fourth place.
In Europe, coronavirus is surging at record cases levels and deaths that are the highest since the spring with nations instituting lockdowns. The continent reported 5,148 deaths and 247,192 cases.
Four European nations are in the top 10. The United Kingdom reported 529, behind the record 1,166 April 21, as well 19,609 cases six days after a record 33,470. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter, reported 753, which is the most since 769 on April 13 and a record 921 on March 28, and 34,283 cases five days after record 40,902 cases. No. 7 France announced 425 deaths, six days after 932 deaths that was the most since a record of 1,437 in April, as well as 28,383 cases after a record 86,852 on Oct. 31. No. 9 Spain reported 351 deaths and 11,064 cases.
No. 8 Iran reported 480 deaths, one day after a record 486, and a record 13,421 cases. Argentina reported 241 deaths and is in 10th.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,991,998, including 20,985 two days after a record 22,778. The nation gained a record 456 deaths in 13th.
Canada reported 100 deaths for a total of 11,186, dropping to 23rd behind Poland with 603, and 4,641 cases two days after a record 6,115.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity" with no lockdown, announced 11 deaths and is at 6,321. Neighboring Norway reported 2deaths to rise to 300, as well as 656 more cases.
China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26 and recently dropped to 36th. China added 12 cases Thursday.
