WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's newly reported deaths increased by a U.S.-high 147, the third day in a row of triple digits, as the total death toll of residents passed 13,000 – eight days after surpassing 12,000 – and new cases rose by 3,255, which is 900 more than the day before, the Florida Health Department announced Thursday.
Also, the total number of people tested in Florida passed 5 million.
The state's first-time positivity rate increased slightly from 4.44 percent to 4.46 percent after a two-week low of 3.85 three days ago with every day over 14 days under 6 percent. In Palm Beach County, the rate increased to 4.09 percent from 4.04, a two-week low of 2.95 three days ago and a two-week high was 5.78 Sept. 8. The county's rate has been under 4 percent 8 times over 14 days.
The total daily positivity rates for all tests increased to 5.68 percent on 80,707 tests received from labs Wednesday – the highest tests in two weeks – from 5.78 on 57,154 tests. The two-week low was 5.17 percent three days ago and the high was 8.13 percent on Sept. 8. The record test total was 142,964 July 11.
Since the first two deaths were announced on March 6, the death toll has climbed to 13,086 among residents, with an average of 67 per day, and 13,247 including 161 nonresidents, which didn't change.
On Sept. 9, the death toll passed 12,000 to 12,115.
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. Less than two months ago, July 20, there were 5,075 deaths.
Palm Beach County reported 20 new deaths for a total of 1,2534, third highest in the state behind Miami-Dade and Broward, after 18 were reported Wednesday. On the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie remained at 259 as Martin rose by 1 to 132 and Indian River up by 1 to 109. Okeechobee stayed at 22 with its first two deaths on July 25.
Broward increased by 14 and Miami-Dade by 22.
In South Florida, there were 58 of the 147 deaths, 39.5 percent for a total of 6,064 at 46.3 percent though the population only comprises 30 percent.
Deaths in the state rose by 152 on Wednesday and 145 on Tuesday. Previously, the state's increase was less than three digits for three days in a row: 98 on Saturday, 8 on Sunday to become the lowest since 7 on June 15 and 34 Monday.
On Tuesday, one day after Labor Day, the death increase was 44 after trending lower for four days.
The last time deaths hit 200 was one week ago Thursday with 211 after 200 the previous day. Before that, the last 200-plus day was Aug. 18. The state record was 276 on Aug. 11.
Cases in Florida also have been trending down the past three months.
On Wednesday cases increased by 2,355 after 3,116 on Tuesday and 1,736 on Monday, which was the lowest since 1,371 on June 10. Then, on June 15 they hit 1,758.
Since then cases have increased less than 2,000 four times – 1,885 on Aug. 31, 1,838 Monday, Sept.7 and 1,823 Tuesday, Sept. 8.
The last time cases were above 4,000 was 4,684 on Aug. 22.
Palm Beach County's daily cases increased by 224 after 254 the day before and 100 last week.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 196 compared with 197the day before. The state reported Wednesday there are currently 2,383 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 97 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 112 deaths Thursday after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 14,590. California reported 106 new deaths and is in third place overall with 14,721, just 131 ahead of Texas.
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: 104 on Aug. 19.
In a state report Thursday, 147 deaths were added from the last day's report and none removed after determining they weren't related to COVID-19.
Deaths rose by 760 in the state over seven days (a daily average of 109) for 6.2 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 67 for 5.6 percent. The U.S. figure is 3.1 percent with the world at 4.0 percent.
Miami-Dade rose to 2,977, which is 188 more in one week. Broward increased to 1,311 with a rise of 53 in one week. St. Lucie has risen by 4 deaths in one week compared with Martin by 7, Indian River by 5 and Okeechobee by 2.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 23 states,
including two states with 1,251: Iowa, which added 34 deaths and Wisconsin with 3.
Pinellas rose by 1 to 715 deaths in fourth place and Hillsborough increased by 5 to to 601 in fifth place. Polk went up by 6 to 503 in sixth and Lee rose by 4 to 457.
The state identified 20 deaths in Palm Beach County: 12 women (75, 78, 81, 83, 87 ,87, 90, 91, 91, 97, 98, 97) and 80 men (63, 66, 77, 81, 86, 89, 90, 91). Martin's fatality was a 91-year-old woman and Indian River's was a 83-year-old man.
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 3.1 percent of the state's 21.48 million population with 674,456, third in the nation when the state was surpassed by Texas on Wednesday. The average over six months is 3,372 per day.
In one week, cases have risen by 19,725, which average 2,818 per day, at 3.0 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 766,201 with the addition of 3,238 Thursday. Texas had a U.S.-high 3,518 for second with 678,819. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fourth at 447,262 with 896 more.
Florida's daily case increases have been below 10,000 since July 26 when they climbed by 12,199. Early in the pandemic, cases 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 44,683, including residents and nonresidents.
Miami-Dade's cases were 448 compared with 459 and Broward's increase was 216 vs. 143. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was 32 in Martin, 43 in St. Lucie, 15 in Indian River, 19 in Okeechobee.
Testing
Florida's total number of people tested is 5,018,057, fourth in the nation, behind No. 1 New York, No. 2 California and No. 3 Texas. That Florida figure is 23.4 percent of Florida's population.
The overall positive rate increased to 13.44 percent from 13.45 the day before.
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 has been less than 5 percent for seven days in a row, most recently a two-week low of 3.76 after 4.47 and the two-week high 6.28 on Sept. 82. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate dropped to 2.75 percent from 2.91 percent with a high of 4.09 on Sept. 3.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate dramatically decreased to 4.08 from 4.19 and a two-week high of 7.22 two days ago with two-week low of 2.40 four days ago and high of 6.72 Sept. 8. Martin's rate was 5.8 percent after a two-week low of 1.59 and a high of 9.68 Sept. 8. Indian River's rate was 2.32 percent after 3.0, a two-week high of 4.59 percent two days ago and a two-week low of 1.65 on Sept. 5, which was among 5 days near 2 percent and below. Okeechobee's rate was 6.43 percent on 291 negative tests after 24.14 percent on 44 tests, a two-week high of 13.16 on 99 tests five days ago, a low of 1.94 on 152 negative tests on Sept. 3.
Palm Beach County has 44,683 cases out of 349,810 total tested for 12.77 percent overall, not including those awaiting tests and inconclusive.
Miami-Dade leads with 165,595 positive cases out of 874,228 tested for 18.94 percent, and Broward is second with 75,048 cases and 542,713 tested for 13.83 percentage.
In Martin County, it's 4,645 of 33,524 for 13.86 percent. In St. Lucie, it's 7,704out of 57,697 for 13.35 percent, Indian River with 3,026 of 33,747 for 8.97 percent and Okeechobee 1,376 of 10,513 for 13.09 percent.
Mortality rate
The mortality rate compares positive cases against deaths.
The state's rate increased to 2.0 percent for all deaths and cases, including nonresidents, compared with 3.0 percent in the United States and 3.1 percent worldwide, which passed 950,000 deaths and passed 30.3 million cases Thursday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate was 2.8 percent, compared with Broward at 1.8 percent and Miami-Dade with 1.8 percent. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.4 percent in St. Lucie, 2.9 percent in Martin, 3.6 percent in Indian River and 1.6 percent in Okeechobee.
Florida has 609 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 611 per million. New York, which represents 16.9 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,705 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 121.8 per million.
Age breakdown
The median age for all deaths in Florida is 79 in data through Wednesday.
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 31 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-six people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus, which didn't change.
A total of 4,244 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 46 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 11,408 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 67, and 265 were hospitalized, with an increase of 2. From ages 5-14, there are 28,011, an increase of 139 with 241 in the hospital at one time, with 1 more.
From the infant to 54 age group, 479,905 of the 666,507residents' cases. In that group, 888 have died, with an increase of 9, for a 0.18 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 566,703 cases. A total of 2,292 have died, an increase of 18, for a 0.40 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 11,014, with an increase of 42. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, rose by 25 to 7,665, followed by Boca Raton at 6,358, up from 6,295, Boynton Beach at 3,962 from 3,932 and Delray Beach at 3,044 vs. 3,026. A total of 1,004 in the county not designated by a city.
Port St. Lucie leads the Treasure Coast with 4,543, an increase of 39, followed by Fort Pierce at 2,726, up 7, and Stuart with 2,185, which was an increase of 31.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, remained at 399 compared with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 42,047 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 40,807 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 3,521 in Palm Beach County, with an increase of 9 compared with 7 the day before; 384 in Martin, which didn't change; 633 in St. Lucie with an increase of 7, Indian River rose by 2 to 288 and Okeechobee remained at 160.
Long-term care
Forty-one percent of the deaths, 5,377 are residents and staff of long-term care, including 543 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 765 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 57 and in Palm Beach County it went up by 11.
National
Since the first death was reported six months ago on Feb. 29, the toll has risen to 197,615, a gain of 852, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers reported a gain of 879 to 202,213.
Cases reached 6,674,070 with an increase of 40,029. They have exceeded 70,000 seven times, including a record 78,446 on July 24 and the last time was July 31.
Last Tuesday in the U.S., there were 445 more deaths and 26,387 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 5,849 at 3.1 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 33,047 with 5 reported Wednesday, after a high of 799 in April.
Among other states in the top 10 for deaths: No. 2 New Jersey 4, No. 6 Massachusetts 15, No. 7 Illinois 25, No. 8 Pennsylvania 15, No. 9 Michigan 12, No. 10 Georgia 55.
Also, No. 11 Arizona reported 38 deaths, as well as an additional 1,73 cases, which is the highest since2,991 on Aug. 1. No. 23 Washington, the original epicenter in the United States, reported 11 deaths.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 16.0 percent of the 5,484 additional deaths Thursday and 21.3 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total. The one week world death increase was 36,754 at 4.0 percent.
Last Thursday's death increase was 5,998.
Cases increased by 309,054 after a record 310,692 Friday, according to Worldometers.info.
Brazil, which is second behind the United States for deaths, reported 857 deaths to rise to 135,031. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 33,700 cases at 4,455,386 in third place.
India reported a record 97,894 cases to rise to 5,118,254 which is second in world behind U.S. India also recorded a world-high 1,132 deaths, one day after a national record 1,299, to rise to 83,198 and in third place.
Mexico announced 201 more deaths late Thursday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 72,179 in fourth place.
Four European nations are in the top 10. The United Kingdom reported 21additional deaths for 41,705 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 13 deaths. No. 8 France announced 50 deaths, as well as a record 10,594 cases, compared with the record 10,561 four days ago. No. 9 Spain had 162 deaths, as well as a record 11,291 cases, surpassing the record the day before.
No. 7 Peru, which moved past France on Wednesday, had 95 and No. 10 Iran 176 deaths.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,085,281 including an additional 5,762. The nation gained 144 deaths and is in 12th.
Canada reported 6 deaths for a total of 9,199, dropping to 20th behind Indonesia, and 792 cases.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity" with no lockdown, reported 5 deaths and 5,864 total. Neighboring Norway reported 1 death to rise to 266, as well as 73 more cases.
No. 30 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, and added `32 cases Friday.
