WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's additional deaths declined in one day to 74 after four days of double digits and new cases increased from 2,658 to 2,811. Also, the state's daily first-time cases positivity rate returned to the 4 percent range, including Palm Beach County back at 3 percent, the Florida Health Department announced Saturday.
In a state report Saturday, 122 newly reported deaths were listed but the net increase was lower because several deaths were later determined not be COVID-19 related. Palm Beach County reported 8 new deaths but the net increase was 2, and the Treasure Coast had no new fatalities.
Florida's first-time daily infection rate of all tested was 4.79 percent from 3.75 the day before, among the lowest in several months and a high of 5.86 on Sept. 21, which is among two days near 5 percent and above over two weeks. Palm Beach County's rate increased to 3.48 percent from 2.42 percent, compared with 2.14 percent four days ago that was among the lowest in several months. The high of 6.83 on Sept. 21 was the only time it was above 5 percent over 14 days.
The state's total daily positivity rate for all tests increased to 5.98 percent on 63,829 tests reported by labs to the state Friday from 4.92 on 77,612 the day before. The high was 7.54 on Sept. 21. Only 20,987 tests were reported four days ago and the record test total was 142,964 July 11.
Increased deaths in the state were 110 Friday after 129 Thursday, 172 Wednesday and 106 Tuesday. On Monday there were 5 reported deaths, which tied for the lowest on May 31 over nearly four months, after 10 fatalities were reported when weekend data is traditionally low. Last Saturday's increase was 62. The record was 276 deaths on Aug. 11.
On Monday, the 738 cases were fewest since June 2 when there were 617 additional infections. Then, they increased to 3,266 Tuesday, 1,948 Wednesday and 2,628 Thursday.
Last Saturday's new cases were 2,795. The last time there were fewer than 2,000 not from weekend data was 1,823 on Sept. 8.
Florida's total of 714,615 cases is 9.7 percent of the total infection in the U.S. though the state only comprises 6.5 percent of the population.
On Sunday, cases passed 700,000 after surpassing 600,000 more than one month ago, Aug. 23.
Before Tuesday, the previous times there were more than 3,000 cases was 3,573 Saturday, Sept. 19. The last time cases were more than 4,000 was 4,684 on Aug. 22.
Since the first two deaths were announced on March 6, which is 211 days, the death toll has climbed to 14,628 among residents, with an average of 69 per day, and 14,803 including 175 nonresidents, which declined by 1.
It took nine days for the toll to pass from 13,000 to 14,000. It was eight days to pass 12,000 on Sept.9.
It took 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.
Palm Beach County's death toll increased to 1,391, third highest in the state behind Miami-Dade and Broward, after a net increase of 6 on Friday. On the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie remained at 292, Martin decreased by 1 to 142 and Indian River declined by 2 to 118. Okeechobee has 28 deaths with its first two fatalities on July 25.
Broward declined by 1 and Miami-Dade rose by 16.
With a net increase of 14 deaths in South Florida, or 18.9 percent of the 74 state total, there are 6,715, which is 45.9 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.
Cases in Florida are much lower than three months ago.
Palm Beach County's daily cases increased by 131 after 135 the day. On Monday, the rise was 27.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 158 compared with 169 the day before. The state reported Saturday there are currently 2,039 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 41 less 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 fourth place with the addition of a U.S.-high 97 deaths Saturday after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 15,992. California reported 88 and is in third place overall with 16,074, just 82 ahead of Texas and 216 behind No. 2 New Jersey.
State and county increases represent fatalities received by the state Friday 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: 85 on Sept. 6.
Deaths rose by 606 in the state over seven days (a daily average of 87) for 4.3 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 increased by 49 for 3.7 percent. The U.S. figure is 2.4 percent with the world at 3.4 percent.
Miami-Dade increased to 3,330 with 99 more in one week. Broward is at 1,414 with a rise 35 in one week. St. Lucie has risen by 17 deaths in one week compared with Martin had no change, Indian River by 2 and Okeechobee by 2.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 22 states, Iowa's 1,378 after adding 3 Saturday.
Pinellas increased by 4 to 763 deaths in fourth place and Hillsborough by 8 to 668 in fifth place. Polk remained at 531 in sixth and Lee decreased by 4 to 472.
The state Saturday identified 7 new deaths in Palm Beach County though the increase was 2 with 6 women (34, 53, 69, 80, 80, 83) and a 79-year-old man.
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 3.3 percent of the state's 21.48 million population with 714,615, third in the nation. The average over 216 days is 3,308 per day.
In one week, cases have risen by 15,933, which averages 2,276 per day, at 2.3 percent.
California has the most cases in the U.S. at 819,436 with the addition of 2,159 Saturday. Texas had a U.S.-high 3,346 and is second overall with 763,010. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fourth at 463,360 with an additional 1,731, the highest since 1,768 on May 28. Wisconsin reported 2,892 cases and is in 20th place.
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 46,964, including residents and nonresidents.
Miami-Dade's cases were 488 compared with 509 the day before and Broward's increase was 134 vs. 198. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was 21 in Martin, 36 in St. Lucie, 18 in Indian River, 6 in Okeechobee.
Testing
Florida's total number of people tested is 5,383,648, which is 25.1 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 13.27 from 13.28 Friday.
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 5.64 percent from 5.13, a two-week high of 6.81 four days earlier and a two-week low of 2.73 five days ago. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 2.85 percent after 2.87, a two-week low of 1.75 five days ago and a high of 4.93 on Sept. 22. Only twice in two weeks have figures been 4 percent and above.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was 4.97 percent from 5.25, a two-week high of 6.71 three days ago and a two-week low of 2.48 six days ago. Martin's rate was 2.25 percent after 2.25, a two-week low of 1.85 seven days ago and a high of 8.36 on Sept. 22. Indian River's rate was 5.03 from 3.87 percent, a two-week high of 7.24 six days ago and a two-week low of 3.76 on Sept. 19. Okeechobee's rate 6.25 percent on 90 negative tests after 3.14 on 154 negative tests, a two-week low of 2.52 on 116 negative tests two days ago and a two-week high of 34.33 percent on 44 tests Sept. 21.
Palm Beach County has 46,962 cases out of 373,758 total tested for 12.56 percent overall, not including those awaiting tests and inconclusive.
Miami-Dade leads with 171,876 positive cases out of 930,115 tested for 18.48 percent, and Broward is second with 77,762 cases and 576,811 tested for 13.48 percentage.
In Martin County, it's 4,977 of 37,875 for 13.14 percent. In St. Lucie, it's 8,189 out of 63,146 for 12.97 percent, Indian River with 3,309 of 36,894 for 8.97 percent and Okeechobee 1,587 of 11,287 for 14.06 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 3.0 percent worldwide, which neared 1,038,000 deaths and passed 35.1 million cases Saturday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate is 3.0 percent, compared with Broward at 1.8 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, 3.6 percent in Indian River and 1.8 percent in Okeechobee.
Florida has 682 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 646 per million. New York, which represents 15.9 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,711 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 133.1 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.
Ninety-one people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus, which went up by 1.
A total of 4,672 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 14 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 12,101 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 56, and 284 were hospitalized, a decrease pf 1. From ages 5-14, there are 30,120, an increase of 170 with 263 in the hospital at one time, which was a rise of 4.
From the infant to 54 age group, there are 508,852 of the 705,965 residents' cases. In that group, 991 have died, with no change, for a 0.19 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 600,757 cases. A total of 2,595 have died, an increase of 13, for a 0.43 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 11,501, with an increase of 23. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, increased by 16 to 7,947, followed by Boca Raton at 6,871 up from 6,848. Boynton Beach went to 4,139 from 4,125 and Delray Beach at 3,187 vs. 3,179. A total of 1,171 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 4,842, an increase of 28, followed by Fort Pierce at 2,841, up 11, and Stuart with 2,320, which went up by 5.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, increased by 1 to 415 compared with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 44,489 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 43,299 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 3,694 in Palm Beach County, with a increase of 7 compared with 18 the day before; 399 in Martin, which went up by 3; St. Lucie at 684 with an increase of 5, Indian River rose by 4 to 310 and Okeechobee from 177 to 179.
Long-term care
Forty-one percent of the deaths, 5,953 are residents and staff of long-term care, including 608 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 807 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 18 and Palm Beach County went up by 1.
National
Since the first death was reported six months ago on Feb. 29, the toll has risen to 209,335, a gain of 640, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers reported an increase of 755 to 214,277.
Cases reached 7,379,042 with an increase of 46,842, 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 Saturday in the U.S., there were 740 more deaths and 44,872 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 4,845 at 2.4 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 33,197, with 5 reported after a high of 799 in April.
Among other states in the top 10 for deaths: No. 2 New Jersey 3, No. 6 Massachusetts 17, No. 7 Illinois 31, No. 8 Pennsylvania 16, No. 9 Georgia 28, No. 10 Michigan 14. Georgia moved ahead of Michigan with the bigger increase.
Also, No. 11 Arizona reported 12 deaths, as well as an additional 636 cases. No. 24 Washington, the original epicenter in the United States, reported none.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 15.8 percent of a record 4,791 additional deaths Saturday and 20.7 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.
The one week world death increase was 34,541 at 3.4 percent.
Last Saturday's death increase was 5,077.
Cases increased by 294,378, according to Worldometers.info. The record is 322,648 on Sept. 18.
Brazil, which is second behind the United States for deaths, initially reported 580 deaths to rise to 146,011. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 24,602 cases at 4,906,833 in third place.
India reported 79,476 cases compared with a world-record 97,894 to rise to 6,573,545, which is second in world behind U.S. Also, India recorded a world-high 1,069 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to six digits at 100,842 and in third place.
Mexico announced 388 more deaths late Saturday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 78,880 in fourth place.
Four European nations are in the top 10 as cases are surging on the continent. The United Kingdom reported 49 additional deaths for 42,317 in fifth place with the record daily high 1,172, as well as 7,070 cases four days after record 7,143. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter and reached 919 in one day, reported 27 deaths and 2,844, which is the highest since 3,022 on April 24. No. 8 France announced 49 deaths, as well as 12,148 cases with the record 16,096 last week. Spain, which reported no data, is just 112 behind France.
No. 7 Peru announced 56 deaths and is 667 ahead of France. No. 10 Iran reported 179 deaths.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,204,502, including an additional 9,859, the most since 10,598 on May 15. The nation gained 174 deaths and is in 12th.
No. 20 Canada reported 52 deaths for a total of 9,462 and 1,812 cases. Between May 26 and Aug. 30 cases were never more than 1,000.
No. 32 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, added 16 cases Sunday.
