WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's coronavirus cases rose by a one-day record of 17,783 as total fatalities passed 1.4 million, taking eight days to grow by more than 100,000, and deaths increased by 129, which was 31 more than the day before, the Florida Department of Health announced Wednesday afternoon.
Tests reported from labs Tuesday were 158,325 one day after 138,386 and five days after a record 218,330. The state's daily first-time positivity rate was 12.59 percent compared with 12.76 one day ago and a record 23.34 Dec. 28. The two-week low was 8.02 each on Dec. 23 and Dec. 24. Palm Beach County's rate was 11.44 percent one day after 11.86 and after a record 19.92 Dec. 28 with the two-week low 6.13 on on Dec. 25.
The state's total daily positivity rate was 14.26 percent one day after 14.33, a record 26.34 Dec. 28 and a two-week low of 9.93 Dec. 23, the only time it was under 10 percent in two weeks. The previous high was 24 percent on April 15. Only 20,987 tests were reported Sept. 27.
The state considers anything above 5 percent in the danger threshold.
Florida's cases reached 1,409,906 with only No. 1 California, No. 2 Texas and No. 4 New York also reporting more than 1 million.
It took 10 days for cases to go from 1.2 million to 1.3 million, 9 days to record more than 100,000, 10 days to pass 1.1 million, 12 days to surpass 1 million, 13 days to exceed 900,000. The first 100,000 was on June 22.
The number of cases reported from labs Tuesday were 17,470, which is different than the 17,783 increase because of an update from previous days.
The increase cases reported Tuesday were 15,431 with the new ones 15,174.
The most reported cases in one day were 20,015 from labs Thursday. With no data released on New Year's Day, those results were part of a two-day total of 29,767 and an increase of 31,518.
Florida closed out the year Thursday with an original record increase of 17,192 cases in one day with that new cases at 16,616.
For months, the record for increase was 15,300 on July 12 with new infections 15,220.
Monday's increased cases were the most for that day of the week since 12,624 on July 13. The rise on Monday, Dec. 21 was 11,015.
The 7,391 infections one week ago Sunday were the fewest since 6,659 on Nov. 30 and the 77 deaths were the lowest since 74 on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
A total of 17.6 percent of the additional cases were in Miami-Dade: 3,136. Much fewer were Palm Beach County with 844 after 564 the day before, with Broward 1,404, St. Lucie 123, Martin 105, Indian River 165 and Okeechobee 55.
Florida's cases rose last Wednesday by 13,871, which at the time was the highest since July.
Over seven days, cases have risen by 103,783 for an average of 14,826 at 7.9 percent. The previous week the increase was 71,124 for an average of 10,246. The average since the first case, which was 312 days ago, is 4,519 day.
Florida's cases are 6.6 percent of the total infections in the U.S., which passed 21 million Tuesday. 1The state comprises 6.5 percent of the U.S. population.
Since the first two cases were announced nine months ago on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 6.6 percent of the state's 21.48 million population, 26th in cases per million. In average cases per 100,000 over the last seven days, Florida is in 21st at 65.0 with California No. 1 at 112.1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After the first two deaths in Florida were announced on March 6, which is 306 days, the death toll has reached 22,317 for an average of 73 per day -- fourth behind No. 1 New York, Texas and California. Florida's total including nonresidents is 22,647, which rose by 3 to 330.
Florida was among 12 states with triple-digit increases of deaths.
The state passed 21,000 deaths one Saturday ago. It took 9 days to increase 1,000 to pass 20,000 residents' deaths, 12 days to pass 19,000 deaths. 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.
Last Wednesday's increase was 137, which tied with Monday, Dec. 14 for most since 141 on Oct. 15.
Until Florida's increase of 120 deaths Dec. 14, they had remained under 100 since 105 on Oct. 21. The record was 276 deaths on Aug. 11. One day after Thanksgiving, 109 deaths were reported for two days of data.
Palm Beach County remained at 1,923 after 2. First-place Miami-Dade increased by 3 to 4,260 and Broward is third at 1,890 with 7 more.
St. Lucie rose by 3 to 417, Martin stayed at 211 and Indian River up 1 to 163. Okeechobee stayed at 54 with its first two fatalities on July 25.
With a net increase of 14 deaths in South Florida of the 129 state total, there are 8,918, which is 40.10 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.
The number of increased deaths over one week is 771, an average of 110 and 3.6 percent, compared with 672 the previous week. Palm Beach County increased by 42 deaths over seven days for 2.2 percent. The U.S. figure is 5.5 percent with the world at 4.3 percent.
State and county increases represent fatalities received by the state 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: 100 on Dec. 17.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 439 compared with 377 one day ago. The state reported Tuesday there are currently 7,302 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is a decrease of 40 in one day. On Monday, it went above 7,000 for the first time since 7,144 on Aug. 7. It passed 5,000 on Dec. 15. The high of 9,520 was on July 21 though the state didn't begin posting data until July.
DEATHS
Since June 16, Florida has climbed seven spots from 11th place in the nation to fourth. And the state is 22nd in deaths per million.
The 21 deaths reported Sunday Nov. 1 were lowest since 20 on Monday, Oct. 26.
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's death count is higher than 16 states, including Rhode Island at 1,890.
Pinellas rose by 20 to 1,106 to move into fourth place, ahead of Hillsborough County, which rose by 9 to 1,102, with Polk by 5 to 814 in sixth, Orange by 13 to 776 in seventh, Duval by 5 to 760 in eighth and Lee by 9 to 691 in ninth.
CASES
Cases have been trending up in the state.
On Monday, Sept. 29, the 738 cases were fewest since June 2 when there were 617 additional infections.
The last lowest rise was 6,659 on Nov. 30.
TESTING
Worldometers.info lists Florida with 16,196,076 total tests behind No. 1 California, No. 2 New York, No. 3 Texas with Illinois fifth.
Florida first-time daily infection percentage has been below 10 percent all but six days over two weeks.
Palm Beach County's rate of 5.78 Dec. 13 was the first time it was under 6 percent since 5.78 on Nov. 27. The rate was 1.92 on Oct. 11, which was the smallest since 1.5 percent on May 19.
Miami-Dade's rate was 10.23 percent one day after 10.96, a two-week high of 24.46 Dec. 28 and a two-week low of 6.91 Dec. 23 then 6.95. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 10.55 one day after 10.54, with a two-week high of 24.51 Dec. 28 and a two-week low of 5.99 Dec. 23 then 6.0 Dec. 24.
St. Lucie's rate was 18.58 percent one day after 12.74 with a two-week high of 35.0 Dec. 28 and a low of 8.77 Dec. 25. Martin's rate was 11.42 percent one day after a two-week high of 11.18 with a two-week low of 5.45 Dec. 23. Indian River's rate was 14.75 percent one day after 12.44, a two-week high of 26.42 Dec. 28 and a two-week low of 10.2 Dec. 26. Okeechobee's rate of 36.67 percent on 95 negative tests was one day after 34.55 on 36 negative tests, after a record 70.0 on 6 negative tests Dec. 287 and low of 6.39 on 205 tests Dec. 25. On Nov. 1 it was zero percent on 31 negative tests.
MORTALITY
The mortality rate compares positive cases against deaths. The state's rate was 1.6 percent for all deaths and cases, including nonresidents, compared with 1.7 percent in the United States and 2.2 percent worldwide, which neared 1,891,00 deaths and passed 87.6 million cases Wednesday, according to Worldometers.info.
County rates: Palm Beach County 2.2 percent, Broward 1.3, Miami-Dade 1.4, St. Lucie 2.7, Martin 2.6, Indian River 2.2 and Okeechobee 2.1 (-0.1).
Deaths per million: Florida 1,040, U.S. 1,113, world 242.2. In the U.S., that means roughly 1 in 1,000 people died from a coronavirus cause. New York, which represents 10.8 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,997 per million. Six months ago New York was 25.6 percent of the U.S. deaths.
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 35 deaths, with no increase, in the 15-24 class, including a 16-year-old girl in Miami-Dade. The class was 33 since Sept. 25.
Ages 25-34: 122 people with no change with a rise of 1.
55 and older: 94 percent of fatalities with 62 percent 75 and older. A smaller percentage tested positive – 28 percent age 55 and older and 7 percent 75 and older.
85 and older: 7,084 people 85 and older, an increase of 27 in one day.
Infant to 4: 25,070 cases, an increase of 364, and 426 were hospitalized, which rose by 4. Ages 5-14: 74,521 1,142 cases, an increase of 1,150, with 391 in the hospital at one time, which rose by 4.
Infant to 54 age group: 992,209 of the 1,385,040 residents' cases. In that group, 1,386 have died with an increase of 6 for a 0.14 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 1,174,268 cases. A total of 3,823 have died, with 21 more, for a 0.33 percentage.
CITIES
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities at 20,983 with an increase of 164. No. 2 Boca Raton rose by 136 to 14,850. No. 3 Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, went up by 36 to 12,900. No. 4 Boynton Beach is at 8,256 from 8,182 No. 5 Delray Beach at 6,526 vs. 6,481
Port St. Lucie leads the Treasure Coast with 9,982, rising 147, followed by Fort Pierce at 5,238, with an increase of 62, and Stuart at 3,900, a rise of 44.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, rose by 10 to 676 with only 3 on May 31.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
A total of 64,321 people in the state have been hospitalized compared with 62,508 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
Palm Beach County: 5,173 with 21 more compared with 24 the day before. Martin rose by 2 to 561, St. Lucie by 8 to 1,080, Indian River by 4 to 532 and Okeechobee by 3 to 258.
LONG-TERM CARE
Thirty-eight percent of the deaths, 8,372, are residents and staff of long-term care with increase of 39. Palm Beach County is second at 836, with a decrease of 2. Miami-Dade leads with 910.
NATION
Deaths
Since the first death was reported on Feb. 29, the national toll has risen to 361,123 Wednesday, an increase of a record 3,865, surpassing the mark one day earlier of 3,775, according to Johns Hopkins. Twenty-six states reported at least 50 more deaths.
Weekly changes: The one-week death increase was 18,805 at 5.5 percent. The increase one week ago Wednesday was 3,750.
Top-ranked states: No. 1 New York: had an increase of 169 deaths to rise to 38,912 compared with a daily high of 799 in April, according to Johns Hopkins tracking. Hopkins includes probable deaths, meaning there was no positive coronavirus test, with New York state only using confirmed deaths but New York City probable ones. No. 2 Texas: increase of 326 at 28,545. No. 3 California: increase of U.S.-high 459 five days after a state-record 585 deaths at 27,462. No. 5: New Jersey: increase of 104 at 19,523.
Among states in top 10, including No. 6 Illinois 139, No. 7 Pennsylvania record 368, No. 8 Michigan 51, No. 9 Massachusetts 99, No. 10 Georgia 61.
Also with at least 50, including No. 30 Nevada with a record 60. Plus No. 31 Kansas 130 (two days), No. 11 Arizona 127, No. 12 Ohio 121, No. 26 Alabama 121, No. 15 Tennessee 114, No. 16 North Carolina 80, No. 13 Indiana 80, No. 21 South Carolina 71, No. 28 Arkansas 65, No. 34 Oklahoma 62, No. 27 Iowa 61, No. 24 Wisconsin 60, No. 23 Colorado 59, No. 20 Minnesota 53. No. 29 Washington, the original U.S. epicenter, 64.
Cases
Infections increased to 21,299,340 Wednesday with a rise of 253,145, four days after a record 299,087 and four days after passing 20 million, according to Johns Hopkins. The increase one Wednesday ago was 229,346.
Top-ranked states: No. 1 California at 2,482,226 with U.S.-high 29,892 after U.S.-record 53,711 Dec. 16. No. 2 Texas 1,646,382 with 19,535 after record 26,990 Jan. 29. No. 4 New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, 1,057,676with 16,648 six days after record 16,802. No. 5 Illinois at 999,288 with 7,569 after what was a U.S. record 15,415 on Nov. 13.
Thirty-one states reported at least 2,000 cases, including No. 8 Pennsylvania 9,474, No. 6 Ohio 7,814, No. 9 Tennessee 7,588, No. 11 Arizona 7,206, No. 10 North Carolina 6,952, No. 22 Louisiana 6,882, No. 18 Massachusetts 6,149, No. 14 Indiana 6,214, No. 32 Kansas 5,501 (two days), No. 7 Georgia 5,271, No. 12 New Jersey 5,028, No. 19 Alabama 4,591, No. 13 Michigan 4,326, No. 23 South Carolina 4,037, No. 26 Utah 3,769, No. 30 Arkansas 3,705, No. 15 Wisconsin 3,406, No. 24 Oklahoma 3,305, No. 31 Nevada 3,295, No. 25 Maryland 3,146.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 28.1 percent of 14,581 deaths increase Wednesday, seven days after a record 15,201, and 19.6 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.
Weekly changes: The one-week death increase was 78,387 at 4.3 percent.
Cases: Increased by record 786,764 cases with 600,000 passing for the first time Nov. 5, 500,00 for the first time Oct. 28 and 400,000 for the first time on Oct. 15. One Wedbesday ago, the cases were 737,365.
No. 2 Brazil: 1,266 deaths for a total of 199,043 compared with record of 1,554 on July 29. Cases: 62,532, behind a record 70,869 on July 29, with total third at 7,874,539.
No. 3 India: 264 deaths, compared with a national-record 1,299, to rise to 150,114 and in third place. Cases: 18,088 compared with a record 97,859, and is second in the world, with 10,374,931.
No. 4 Mexico: record 1,165 deaths, surpassing the mark of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 129,987 in fourth place. Cases: record 13,345.
Europe: Coronavirus is surging at record cases levels and deaths that are the highest since the spring with nations instituting lockdowns. The continent reported 5,417 new deaths and 267,656 cases.
Five European nations are in the top 10. No. 5 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter, reported 548 deaths after a record 993 Dec. 3 and 20,331 cases after record 40,896 on Nov. 13. No. 6 United Kingdom 1,041 deaths, behind the record 1,166 April 21, as well as record 62,322 cases. No. 7 France 283 deaths after 932 on Nov. 13 that was the most since a record of 1,437 in April, as well as 25,379 cases after a record 86,852 on Oct. 31. No. 8 Russia 445 deaths after record 635 Dec. 24 and 24,217 cases after record 29,935 Dec. 24 and fourth overall with 3,308,601. No. 10 Spainno no data after 120 deaths and 16,343 cases Tuesday with the infection record 22,822 Oct. 27.
Also, Germany reported 1,019 deaths seven days after record 1,129 to move past Peru (66) into 13th place and 8,070 cases, behind the record of 31,553 Dec. 18.
No. 9 Iran: 82 deaths after a record 486 on Nov. 16. Cases: 6,283 after a record 14,051 Nov. 27.
No. 22 Canada: 136 deaths after record 257 Dec. 29 for a total of 16,369 and 8,154 cases three days after record 11,373.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity" no data and is 8,985. Neighboring Norway rose by 13 deaths to 465 for fourth day in a row, as well as 787 more cases.
China: the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26 and dropped to 43rd behind Greece. China added 63 cases Thursday.
South Korea: 19 deaths Thursday, after record 40 deaths Dec. 29 for a total of 1,046 plus 868 new cases, behind the record of 1,241 Dec. 25.
Japan: record 65 deaths on day after record 78 for a total of 3834 including 13 on a cruise ship, and record 6,001, surpassing the mark of 4,915 one day earlier.
