WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's death toll of residents passed 15,000 with the addition of a U.S.-high 164 fatalities, the highest in nine days, as cases increased by 3,573, the most in 20 days. Also, the state's first-time daily positivity rate increased to 4.57 percent, including Palm Beach County rising to 3.04, the Florida Health Department announced Thursday.
Florida's first-time daily infection rate of all tested rose from 4.11 percent the day before, a low of 3.73 four days ago and a high of 5.26 two days ago. Palm Beach County's rate increased from 2.76 the day before and 2.14 on Sept. 27 that was among the lowest in several months. The two-week high was 4.17 on Sept. 30.
The state's total daily positivity rate for all tests increased to 5.54 percent on 77,485 tests reported by labs to the state Wednesday, just 128 from the highest tests number in two weeks, from 5.33 on 66,272 the day before. The highest percentage was 6.83 two days ago. Only 20,987 tests were reported Sept. 27 and the record test total was 142,964 July 11. Palm Beach County had only 144 positive tests.
It took 12 days for the death toll to go from 14,022 to 15,068 residents.
Since the first two deaths were announced on March 6, which is 216 days, the deaths have averaged 70 per day, with the total including nonresidents 15,254, which rose by 6 to 186.
It took nine days for the toll to pass from 13,000 to 14,000. It was eight days to surpass 12,000 on Sept.9.
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. More than two months ago, July 20, there were 5,075 deaths.
The one-day Thursday increase was the most since 174 on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The record was 276 deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Thursday's state report noted there were 171 deaths received by the department, including 9 in Palm Beach County, but 7 cases were later determined to be related to COVID-19 for a net increase of 164.
The deaths rose by 137 Wednesday.
For five days deaths in the state had been under 100 after 111 on Friday. Increases were 73 Saturday, 43 Sunday, 41 Monday and 55 Tuesday. Weekend data are traditionally lower.
One week ago Thursday there were 129 more deaths.
The cases' increase is the most since 3,573 on Sept. 19. The last time cases were more than 4,000 was 4,684 on Aug. 22.
Cases on Wednesday were 2,582 after Tuesday's 2,582, Monday's 1,415 and Sunday's 1,868.
One Monday ago, 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.
Florida's total of 726,013 cases is 9.6 percent of the total infections in the U.S. though the state only comprises 6.5 percent of the population.
On Sunday, Sept. 27, cases passed 700,000 after surpassing 600,000 more than one month ago, Aug. 23.
Palm Beach County's death toll increased by 8 to 1,416, third highest in the state behind Miami-Dade and Broward, also after an increase of 8 Wednesday. On the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie rose by 2 to 297, Martin increased by 2 to 144, Indian River remained at 120. Okeechobee climbed by 2 to 30 deaths with its first two fatalities on July 25.
Broward increased by 3 and Miami-Dade by 19.
With a net increase of 36 deaths in South Florida of the 164 state total, which is 22.0 percent, there are 6,836, which is 45.4 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.
Cases in Florida have been trending lower, including in South Florida.
Palm Beach County's daily cases increased by 141 after 140 the day. On Sept. 28, the rise was 27.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 224 compared with 255 the day before. The state reported Thursday there are currently 2,142 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 22 more than the day before.
Deaths
Florida is in fifth place in the United States. On June 16, Florida was in 11th place in the nation.
Texas is in third place with the addition of 104 deaths Thursday after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 16,334. California reported 99 and is in third place with 16,361, which is 27 ahead of Texas. New Jersey, which had been second throughout the pandemic, is in fourth place with 16,161, adding 9 deaths.
State and county increases represent fatalities received by the state Wednesday 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: 78 on Sept. 9.
Deaths rose by 624 in the state over seven days (a daily average of 89) for 4.3 percent, a figure tally that had been more than 1,200 deaths recently. Earlier the one-week figure was in the mid 200s. Palm Beach County increased by 33 for 2.4 percent. The U.S. figure is 2.4 percent with the world at 3.6 percent.
Miami-Dade rose to 3,387 with 103 more in one week. Broward increased to 1,443 with a rise 37 in one week. St. Lucie has risen by 6 deaths in one week compared with Martin by 1, Indian River down by 1 with an adjustment and Okeechobee by 2.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 20 states, including Kentucky's 1,234 with 11 reported.
Pinellas increased by 2 to 776 deaths in fourth place and Hillsborough up by 10 to 685 in fifth place, Polk increased by 7 to 549 in sixth, Orange by 4 to 495 in seventh and Lee rose by 2 to 479.
The state Thursday identified 9 new deaths in Palm Beach County though there was a net increase of 8 with 5 women (76, 84, 90, 93, 99) and 4 men, including a 66 who became a case on April 3 as well as 64, 93, 97. St. Lucie's new deaths were an 88-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man with Martin adding two women (84, 88) and Okeechobee two men (87, 91).
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 3.4 percent of the state's 21.48 million population with 726,013, third in the nation. The average over 221 days is 3,285 per day.
In one week, cases have risen by 16,869, which averages 2,410 per day, at 2.4 percent.
California has the most cases in the U.S. at 834,800 with the addition of 3,575. Texas had a U.S.-high 3,784 and is second overall with 781,794 New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fourth at 470,104 with an additional 1,836, which is the highest since 2,088 on May 21.
Florida's daily case increases have been below 10,000 since July 26 when they climbed by 12,199.
The record for most cases was 15,300 cases, which was the highest figure ever in the United States.
In Palm Beach County, new cases have been much lower since the record 1,171 July 5. The total now is 47,525, including residents and nonresidents.
Miami-Dade's cases were 441 compared with 431 the day before and Broward's increase was 240 vs. 238. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was 19 in Martin, 30 in St. Lucie, 30 in Indian River, 2 in Okeechobee.
Testing
Florida's total number of people tested is 5,496,985, which is 25.6 percent of the state's population behind No. 1 California, No. 2 New York, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Illinois.
The overall Florida positive rate dropped to 13.21 percent from 13.22 in one day.
In Palm Beach County, the last time the first-time rate has been above 10.0 percent was 10.2 percent on Aug. 4.
Miami-Dade's rate increased from 2.85 percent to 4.24 with a two-week high of 6.82 Sept. 28 and a two-week low of 2.74 on Sept. 27. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 3.57 percent after 2.85, a two-week low of 1.75 on Sept. 27 and a high of 4.00 on Sept. 30.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was 2.89 percent from 2.57, a two-week high of 6.72 on Sept. 29 and a two-week low of 2.47 Sept. 26. Martin's rate was 3.33 percent after 2.67, a two-week low of 1.86 on Sept. 26 and a high of 7.28 on Sept. 24. Indian River's rate was 4.5 from 3.29 percent, a two-week high of 7.31 Sept. 26 and a two-week low of 3.29 six days ago. Okeechobee's rate was 3.3 percent on 261 negative tests after 4.74 on 261 negative tests, a two-week low of 2.52 on 116 negative tests seven days ago and a two-week high of 21.92 on 57 negative tests Sept. 24.
Palm Beach County has 47,525 cases out of 381,309 total tested for 12.46 percent overall, not including those awaiting tests and inconclusive.
Miami-Dade leads with 173,721 positive cases out of 947,908 tested for 18.33 percent, and Broward is second with 78,614 cases and 588,010 tested for 13.37 percentage.
In Martin County, it's 5,030 of 38,729 for 12.99 percent. In St. Lucie, it's 8,299 out of 64,789 for 12.81 percent, Indian River with 3,392 of 38,010 for 8.92 percent and Okeechobee 1,624 of 11,487 for 14.14 percent.
Mortality rate
The mortality rate compares positive cases against deaths.
The state's rate was 2.1 percent for all deaths and cases, including nonresidents, compared with 2.8 percent in the United States and 2.9 percent worldwide, which passed 1,066,000 deaths and passed 36.7 million cases Thursday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate is 3.0 percent, compared with Broward at 1.9 percent and Miami-Dade with 2.0 percent. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.6 percent in St. Lucie, 2.9 percent in Martin, 3.5 percent in Indian River and 1.9 percent in Okeechobee.
Florida has 702 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 658 per million. New York, which represents 15.6 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,715 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 136.8 per million.
Age breakdown
The median age for all deaths in Florida is 79.
Five deaths are among youths 14 and under, a 6-year-old from Hillsborough, a 9-year-year old from Putnam, two 11-year-olds, a boy in Miami-Dade and a girl in Broward, as well as a 12-year-girl from Duval.
Four other juveniles are among the 33 deaths in the 15-24 class, including a 16-year-old girl in Miami-Dade, a 16-year-old girl in Lee, a 17-year-old boy in Pasco and a 17-year-old boy in Manatee. This class didn't have any additions.
Eighty-eight people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus with no change.
A total of 4,810 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 53 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 – 28 percent age 55 and older and 7 percent 75 and older.
At the other end of the age spectrum, there are 12,301 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 54, and 290 were hospitalized, which went up by 2. From ages 5-14, there are 30,813, an increase of 192 with 268 in the hospital at one time, which increased by 1.
From the infant to 54 age group, there are 516,772 of the 717,148 residents' cases. In that group, 1,012 have died, with an increase of 10, for a 0.20 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 610,138 cases. A total of 2,668 have died, an increase of 25 for a 0.44 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 11,626 with an increase of 28. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, increased by 17 to 7,997, followed by Boca Raton at 7,009 up from 6,979. Boynton Beach went to 4,181 from 4,174 and Delray Beach at 3,237 vs. 3,223. A total of 1,210 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 4,900, an increase of 18, followed by Fort Pierce at 2,862, up 5, and Stuart with 2,342, which rose by 8.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, remained at 415 compared with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 45,483 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 44,320 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 3,790 in Palm Beach County, with a increase of 27 compared with 31 the day before; 407 in Martin, which went up by 1; St. Lucie at 706 with an increase of 6, Indian River rose by 1 to 319 and Okeechobee from 180 to 181.
Long-term care
Forty-one percent of the deaths, 6,126 are residents and staff of long-term care, including 625 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 814 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 67 and Palm Beach County went up by 4.
National
Since the first death was reported six months ago on Feb. 29, the toll has risen to 212,657, a gain of 850, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers reported an increase of 957 to 217,738.
Cases reached 5,599,566 with an increase of 49,884, according to Hopkins. They have exceeded 70,000 seven times, including a record 78,446 on July 24 and the last time was July 31.
Last Thursday in the U.S., there were 857 more deaths and 44,749 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 4,960 at 2.4 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 33,227, with 1 reported after a high of 799 in April.
Among other states in the top 10 for deaths: No. 6 Massachusetts 8, No. 7 Illinois 32, No. 8 Pennsylvania 24, No. 9 Georgia 35, No. 10 Michigan 24.
Also, No. 11 Arizona reported 10 deaths, as well as an additional 863 cases. No. 24 Washington, the original epicenter in the United States, reported 7 Thursday.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 14.9 percent of 6,424 additional deaths Thursday and 20.4 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.
The one week world death increase was 36,715 at 3.6 percent.
Last Thursday's death increase was 5,606.
Cases increased by 348,630, surpassing the mark of 343,932 the day before, according to Worldometers.info.
Brazil, which is second behind the United States for deaths, reported 730 deaths to rise to 149,034. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 27,182 cases at 5,029,112 in third place.
India reported 78,524 cases compared with a world-record 97,894 to rise to 6,835,655, which is second in world behind U.S. Also, India recorded a world-high 971 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to 105,526 and in third place.
Mexico announced 370 more deaths late Thursday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 83,096 in fourth place.
Four European nations are in the top 10 as cases are surging on the continent. The United Kingdom reported 77 additional deaths for 42,592 in fifth place with the record daily high 1,172, as well as a record 17,540, two days day after a record 14,542. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter and reached 919 in one day, reported 22 deaths and 4,458 cases, the most since 4,697 on April 11. No. 8 Spain reported 126 deaths and 5,585 cases. No. 9 France is 167 behind Spain, announcing 76 deaths, as well as 18,129 cases after record 18,746 the day before.
No. 7 Peru announced 89 deaths and is 410 ahead of Spain. No. 10 Iran reported 230 deaths Thursday, below the record 239 one day earlier.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,260,112, including an additional 11,493 two days after a record 11,615. The nation gained 191 deaths and has dropped to 13th behind Argentina after adding 399 Wednesday and no data Thursday.
No. 21 Canada reported 16 deaths for a total of 9,557 and 2,436 cases behind the record of 2,804 three days earlier. Between May 26 and Aug. 30 cases were never more than 1,000.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity" with no lockdown, reported no deaths and is at 5,892. Neighboring Norway reported no deaths for the sixth day in a row to remain at 275, as well as 209 more cases.
No. 32 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, added 21 cases Friday.
