WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's newly reported coronavirus deaths diminished to 127 as cases increased by 2,402, one day after infections spiked because of a data dump by a private lab, and daily positivity rates declined, the Florida Department of Health announced Wednesday.
On Tuesday, deaths rose by 187 and cases' increase was 7,569 but 3,699 without Quest Diagnostics' data.
The positivity rates declined to 7.67 on 50,707 tests after a spike to 10.33 percent on 127,979, including 75,000 tests submitted by Quest dating back to April with the majority in mid-June to late July. The rate has been under 8 percent for 4 times in two weeks plus one at 8.02.
The first-time cases positivity rate dropped to 5.63 one day after 6.75 including Quest and 5.68 without. Palm Beach County's rate was 4.20 after 4.26 with the Quest data and 3.35 without. Palm Beach's low was two days ago at 3.18 percent and the two-week high was 5.4 0 on Aug. 23.
Palm Beach County's death total rose by 6 to 1,134, second highest in the state behind Miami-Dade and ahead of Broward, after 9 deaths were reported Tuesday.
On the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie increased by 1 to 237, Indian River also rose by 1 to 103 and Martin stayed at 118. Okeechobee increased by a daily-record 4 to 19 after reporting its first two deaths on July 25.
Broward climbed by 10 and Miami-Dade by 17, one day after rising by 100.
In South Florida, there were 39 of the 127 deaths, 30.7 percent, for a total of 5,362 at 46.6 percent though the population only comprises 30 percent.
Pinellas rose by 2 to 665 deaths in fourth place and Hillsborough increased by 3 to 554 in fifth place. Polk climbed by 8 to 455 in sixth and Lee increased by 5 to 431.
Florida is in fifth place in the United States with 11,501 deaths, and nonresident deaths increased by 3 to 150 for a total of 11,651. On June 16, Florida was in 11th place in the nation.
Texas is in fourth place with the addition of a U.S.-high 189 deaths Wednesday after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 12,870. California reported 145 new deaths, second highest in the nation, and is in third place overall with 13,163.
On Monday, the state reported 1,885 positive cases, the lowest since 1,758 on June 15.
Florida's cases have been under 3,000 for only six times since late June and under 5,000 for 16 days in a row until the Quest data dump.
Palm Beach County's daily cases increased by 131 after 422 the day before and 100 two days ago.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 299 compared with 364 the day before. The state reported Wednesday there are currently 3,549 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 75 less than the day before.
Deaths
Deaths in the state have accelerated over nearly six months since the first fatalities were announced on March 6. It took 49 days for the death toll to reach the first 1,000 yet it was only 40 days to more than double . The average number of deaths per day in Florida is 64.
The last time deaths were more than 200 was 212 on Aug. 18. The state record was 276 on Aug. 11. Last Wednesday's rise was 183.
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: 186 on Aug. 5.
In a state list of cases and deaths released Wednesday, it reported 128 deaths from the previous report with 1 removed after further determining a cause of death for a net increase of 127.
Deaths rose by `768 in the state over seven days (a daily average of 110) for 7.2 percent, a figure tally that had been more than 1,200 deaths recently. Two months ago the one-week figure was in the mid 200s. Palm Beach County rose by 56 for 5.2 percent. The U.S. figure is 3.5 percent with the world at 4.6 percent.
Miami-Dade climbed to 2,554, which is 237 more in one week. Broward increased to 1,197 with a rise of 37 in one week. Indian River has risen by 12 deaths in one week compared with St. Lucie climbing by 7 deaths, Martin by 5 and Okeechobee by 5.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 22 states, including Iowa's 1,126 after reporting 3 Wednesday. Wisconsin is 8 ahead of Florida with 1,142, reporting 12 new deaths.
The state on Wednesday identified 7 deaths in Palm Beach County though the increase was 6 with 4 woman (48, 61, 72, 95) and 3 men (32, 64, 69). Okeechobee's new deaths were 2 men (91, 93) and 2 women (79, 83) with St. Lucie reporting a 71-year-old man and Indian River a 90-year-old man.
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 2.9 percent of the state's 21.48 million population with 633,442, second in the nation. The average over six months is 3,424 per day.
In one week, cases have risen by 24,720, which average 3,531 per day, at 4.1 percent, a percentage that has been steadily decreasing.
Cases passed 600,000 Aug. 23 and 500,000 on Aug. 5.
California has the most cases in the U.S. at 712,052 with the addition of a U.S.-high 4,255 Wednesday. Texas had the second-most new cases, 4,157, and is third overall with 621,667. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fourth at 436,218 with 708 more.
Florida's daily case increases have been below 10,000 since July 26 when they climbed by 12,199. Early in the pandemic, case were under 1,000 with the last one of three digits 966 on June 8.
The cases record was 15,300 was July 5 – the highest daily 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 42,518, including residents and nonresidents.
Miami-Dade's cases were 341 compared with 2,149 and Broward's increase was 126 vs. 1,124. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was 36 in St. Lucie, 5 in Indian River, 2 in Okeechobee and Martin had a net decrease of 24 because of duplicate cases, a Health Department official told WPTV.
Testing
Florida's total number of people tested is 4,700,822, fourth in the nation, behind No. 1 New York, No. 2 California and No. 3 Texas. That Florida figure is 21.9 percent of Florida's population.
The overall positive rate was 13.48 percent, the same as the day before.
The daily rate at one time was around 2-3 percent. The two-week high was 11.35 on Aug. 24 and the record is 20.71 percent on July 8.
The record test total was 142,964 July 11.
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 was 5.30 percent, the lowest in two weeks compared with 8.03 the day before not using Quest data and the previous low 6.54 two days ago. The highest was 26.4 on July 8.
Broward's rate was 4.60, the fifth day in a row it was under 5 percent, including 4.97 the day before without Quest and a two-week high of 7.06 on Aug. 19.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was 4.58, the fourth day in a row it was under 5, including 4.36 one day before without Quest and a low of 3.19 two days ago and a high of 13.98 on Aug. 24. Martin's rate dropped to 5.12 percent from 6.23 without Quest and a two-week low of 3.99 one week ago and a two-week high of 12.09 on Thursday. Indian River's rate was 2.0 percent, compared with 3.56 without Quest the day before and six days in row under 2, including 1.28 two days ago and a high of 6.78 on Aug. 24. Okeechobee's rate was 5.71 percent on 66 negative tests after 11.76 without Quest on 40 days, a two-week low of 0 on 26 negative tests and a high of 11.96 on Aug. 22.
Palm Beach County has 42,518 cases out of 330,160total tested for 12.88 percent overall, not including those awaiting tests and inconclusive.
Miami-Dade leads with 159,400 positive cases out of 826,370 tested for 19.29 percent, and Broward is second with 72,371 cases and 513,437 tested for 14.1ercentage.
In Martin County, it's 4,509 of 31,333 for 14.39 percent. In St. Lucie, it's 7,156 out of 52,712 for 13.58 percent, Indian River with 2,863 of 31,284 for 9.15 percent and Okeechobee 1,250 of 9,944 for 12.57 percent.
Mortality rate
The mortality rate compares positive cases against deaths.
The state's rate is 1.8 percent for all deaths and cases, including nonresidents, compared with 3.0 percent in the United States and 3.3 percent worldwide, which neared 867,000 deaths and neared 26.2 million cases Wednesday.
Palm Beach County's rate was 2.7 percent, compared with Broward at 1.7 percent and Miami-Dade with 1.6 percent. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.3 percent in St. Lucie, 2.6 percent in Martin, 3.6 percent in Indian River and 1.5 percent in Okeechobee.
Florida has 536 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 573 per million. New York, which represents 17.4 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,699 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 111.2 per million.
Age breakdown
The median age for all deaths in Florida is 79.
Four deaths are among youths 14 and under: a 6-year-old from Hillsborough, a 9-year-year old from Putnam and two 11-year-olds, a boy in Miami-Dade and a girl in Broward. This class did not change.
Four other juveniles are among the 28 deaths in the 15-24 class: 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. The class' new entry is a 23-year-old man in Hillsborough.
Seventy-nine people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus, with an addition of 4.
A total of 3,693 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 36 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 10,699 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 44, and 246 were hospitalized, which rose by 1. From ages 5-14, there are 25,966, an increase of 127 with 222 in the hospital at one time, with an addition of 2.
From the infant to 54 age group, 453,779 of the 626,426 residents tested. In that group, 801 have died, with an increase of 10, for a 0.18 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 535,771 cases. A total of 2,039 have died, an increase of 25, for a 0.38 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 10,614, with an increase of 38. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, rose 12 to 7,385 followed by Boca Raton at 5,869 up from 5,850, Boynton Beach at 3,787 from 3,771 and Delray Beach at 2,912 vs. 2,900. A total of 946 in the county not designated by a city.
Port St. Lucie leads the Treasure Coast with 4,201, an increase of 21 followed by Fort Pierce at 2,548, up 16, and Stuart with 2,110, which a decrease of 17.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, which was listed as a decreased by 1 to 396 compared with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 39,158 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 37,404 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 3,376 in Palm Beach County, an increase of 22 compared with 15 the day before; 379 in Martin, which didn't change; 472 in St. Lucie with a rise of 8, Indian River went up by 3 to 259 and Okeechobee went from 135 to 136.
Long-term care
Forty-two percent of the deaths, 4,811 are residents and staff of long-term care, including 485 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 718 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 52 and in Palm Beach County it didn't change.
National
Since the first death was reported six months ago on Feb. 29, the toll has risen to 189,964, an increase of 1,090 on Wednesday, according to Worldometers.info.
Johns Hopkins reports 185,764, a gain of 1,100.
Cases reached 6,290,737 with an increase of 41,211, according to Worldometers.info. They have exceeded 70,000 seven times, including a record 78,446 on July 24 and the last time was July 31.
Last Wednesday in the U.S., there were 1,289 more deaths and 44,880 more cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 6,336 at 3.5 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 33,052, with 13 more reported, after a high of 799 in April.
Among other states in the top 10 for deaths: No. 2 New Jersey 15, No. 6 Massachusetts no data, No. 7 Illinois 27, No. 8 Pennsylvania `28, No. 9 Michigan 14, No. 10 Georgia 62.
Also, No. 11 Arizona reported 21 new deaths as well as 519 additional cases. No. 23 Washington, the original epicenter in the United States, reported 4 deaths.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 17.3 percent of the 5,877 additional deaths Wednesday and 21.9 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total. The one week world death increase was 37,720 at 4.6 percent.
Last Wednesday's death increase was 6,343.
Cases increased by 285,518, behind a record 289,648 on July 24.
Brazil, which is second behind the United States for deaths, reported a world-high 1,218 deaths to rise to 123,899. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 48,632 cases for a total of 3,997,865 and only behind the U.S.
India reported 1,045 additional deaths to rise to 66,333 65,288 and in third place. The Asian nation also reported 78,357 cases, slightly below the record 78,761 two days earlier for a third-place total of 3,769,523, behind the U.S. and Brazil.
Mexico announced 575 more deaths late Wednesday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 65,816 in fourth place, just 517 from India.
Four European nations are in the top 10. The United Kingdom reported 10 additional deaths for 41,514 in fifth place with the record daily high 1,172. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter and reached 919 in one day, reported 6 deaths. No. 7 France reported 25 deaths and 7,017 cases. Spain dropped to ninth behind Peru with 58 deaths, plus 8,581 cases, which is the highest since a record 10,856 on March 20.
No. 8 Peru gained 191 deaths Wednesday and No. 10 Iran had 125 Wednesday.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,005,000, including an additional 4,952. The nation gained 115 deaths and is in 12th.
No. 17 Canada reported 3 deaths to rise to 9,132, as well as 498 cases.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity," reported 5 deaths and has 5,820 total. Neighboring Norway announced zero deaths for the 13th day in a row to remain at 264 deaths, as well as 163 more cases.
No. 28 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, and added `11 cases Thursday.
Japan reported 11 deaths for a total of 1,307 Wednesday.
