WEST PALM BEACH — Florida's coronavirus cases increased by 4,471, the third time in one week it surpassed 4,000, and additional deaths remained under double digits for the third day in a row, 77, the state Health Department announced Saturday. Also, testing reached a two-week high as Florida's daily first-time positivity rate declined to 3.68 percent and Palm Beach County dropped to 2.67 percent.
Cases rose by 3,689 on Friday after increasing by 5,557 Thursday, the most since 6,352 on Aug. 15, not including two days' worth of data on Oct. 11 and 7,569 for one day on Sept. 1, which were both because of infection dumps. Last Saturday, cases rose by 4,044
Although infections in Florida are trending upward like in most other states in the nation, new cases are exponentially lower than its U.S. daily high of 15,300 in July.
Deaths rose by 73 Friday and 57 Thursday. Last Saturday's increase was 87. The last time there was a triple-digit increase was 105 Wednesday, and they were the last highest 141 on Thursday, Oct. 15. The record was 276 deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Palm Beach County's deaths increased by 3 to 1,561, which is second to Miami-Dade and ahead of Broward, after an increase of 9 Friday.
On the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie decreased by 1 to 329, Martin remained at 164 and Indian River rose by 4 to 126. Okeechobee remained at 38 with its first two fatalities on July 25.
Broward increased by 1 after no change for two days in a row and Miami-Dade increased by 8.
With a net increase of 15 deaths in South Florida of the 77 state total, which is 19.5 percent, there are 7,343, which is 44.7 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.
On Monday, Florida became the fifth state in the nation to pass 16,000 deaths and now is fourth overall. Since the first two deaths were announced on March 6, which is 232 days, the death toll has reached 16,417 for an average of 72 per day. Florida's total including nonresidents is 16,620, which decreased by 1 to 203 upon further review of a case.
Florida's first-time daily infection rate of tests reported to labs Friday decreased to the lowest in two weeks, not counting the day after the data dump on Oct. 10 of 3.44 percent, one day after 3.98 percent (the figure was adjusted from 4.0 percent in the latest report). The high was 6.71 percent three days ago.
Palm Beach County dropped under 3 percent for the fourth time in the past two weeks, including the day of the data dump. The rate the day before was 3.22 percent. The two-week low was 1.92 on Oct. 11, which was the smallest since 1.5 percent on May 19. The high was 5.49 four days ago.
The state's total daily positivity rate for all tests decreased to 4.65 percent on 127,387 tests received Friday, which is the most tests in two weeks, from 4.77 on 100,174 tests. The two-week high was 8.02 three days ago and the low was 4.42 Oct. 10. Only 20,987 tests were reported Sept. 27 and the record test total was 142,964 July 11.
In one week cases have risen by 23,770 for an average of 3,396 at 3.2 percent. The previous week they averaged 2,998.
The number of deaths over one week is 500, an average of 71, compared with 553 the previous week.
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: 62 on Sept. 25.
The state report Saturday identified 89 deaths, including 2 in Palm Beach County, with 12 previously reported cases decreased as fatalities for a net increase of 77.
Florida's total of 776,251 cases is around 9 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 daily cases increased by 328 one day after 129. On Sept. 28, the rise was 27.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 174 compared with 188 the day before. The state reported Saturday there are currently 2,163 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 43 more than Friday.
Deaths
Since June 16, Florida has climbed seven spots from 11th place in the nation to fourth.
Texas is in second place with the addition of a U.S.-high 81 deaths after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 17,456. California reported 49 and is in third place with 17,311, which is 145 behind Texas. New Jersey, which had been second throughout the pandemic, is in fifth place with 16,281, adding 8 fatalities.
It took 12 days for Florida's death toll to go from 15,000 milestone to 16,000, the same to surpass that figure Oct. 7, but nine days to surpass 14,000 and eight to go past 12,000. 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 three months ago, July 20, there were 5,075 deaths.
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 increased by 74 deaths over seven days for 5.0 percent. The U.S. figure is 2.6 percent with the world at 3.6 percent.
Miami-Dade rose to 3,605 with 68 more in seven days. Broward is at 1,520 with an increase of 14. St. Lucie has gone up by 13 deaths compared with Martin by 10, Indian River by 4 and Okeechobee by 1.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 20 states, including Kentucky's 1,396 with no data reported Saturday.
Pinellas increased by 1 to 816 deaths in fourth place and Hillsborough by 2 to 759 in fifth place, Polk by 13 to 615 in sixth, Orange by 9 to 546 in seventh and Lee by 6 to 506.
The state report Saturday identified 2 deaths in Palm Beach County though the increase was 3 of two men (86,91). Indian River added 2 deaths though the rise was 4 of 2 women (55, 62).
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 3.6 percent of the state's 21.48 million population with 776,251, third in the nation and seventh in cases per million. The average over 235 days is 3,284 per day.
California has the most cases in the U.S. at 892,810 with 5,945 more Saturday. Texas had 6,125 and is second overall with 858,071. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fourth at 493,832 with an increase of 2,061, the highest since 2,088 on May 21. Illinois announced a record 6,163 cases and is fifth overall. Two other Midwestern states set record: Michigan with 3,490 in 16th overall and Ohio with 2,801 in 12th plus No. 13 Wisconsin with 4,062 four days after a record 4,59 and No. `16 Indiana with 2,741 two days after a record 2,850.
In Palm Beach County, new cases have been much lower since the record 1,171 July 5. The total now is 50,316, including residents and nonresidents.
Miami-Dade's cases were 616 compared with 520 the day before and Broward's increase was 459 vs. 456. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was Martin 33 vs. 16 the day before, St. Lucie 59 vs. 45, Indian River 25 vs. 35 and Okeechobee 13 vs. 3.
Testing
Florida's total number of people tested is 5,945,372, which is 27.7 percent of the state's population behind No. 1 California, No. 2 New York, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Illinois. Florida is ninth lowest in the nation in tests per million at 276,816.
The overall Florida positive rate decreased to 13.06 percent from 13.14 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 dropped to a two-week low of 2.48 percent one day after 3.12 and two days after a 14-day high of 5.16. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 2.9 percent after 4.44 percent, a two-week high of 5.87 three days ago and a two-week low of 2.26 on Oct. 11.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was 5.84 percent after5.13 one day ago, a two-week high of 9.32 three days ago and a low of 2.61 Oct. 12 not including the data dump. Martin's rate was 4.69percent after 3.57, a two-week low of 1.03 six days ago and a two-week high of 7.11 seven days ago. Indian River's rate was 4.44 percent after a two-week high of 7.35 percent and a two-week low of 2.07 on Oct. 12, not including the data dump. Okeechobee's rate was 6.67 percent on 168 tests after 1.73 on 172 negative tests, a two-week high of 15.66 on 70 tests four days ago and zero on 22 tests Oct. 11.
Palm Beach County has 50,316 cases out of 414,488 total tested for 12.14 percent overall, not including those awaiting tests and inconclusive.
Miami-Dade leads with 181,633 positive cases out of 1,030,123 tested for 17.63 percentage, and Broward is second with 83,165 cases and 641,776 tested for 12.96 percentage.
In Martin County, it's 5,276 of 41,790 for 12.63 percent. In St. Lucie, it's 8,857 out of 70,121 for 12.63 percent, Indian River with 3,674 of 41,418 for 8.87 percent and Okeechobee 1,711 of 12,107 for 14.13 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 2.6 percent in the United States and 2.7 percent worldwide, which passed 1,154,000 deaths and neared 43.0 million cases Saturday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate is 3.1 percent compared with Broward at 1.8 percent (down 0.10) and Miami-Dade with 2.0 percent. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.7 percent in St. Lucie (down 0.1), 3.1 in Martin, 3.4 percent in Indian River (up. 0.1) and Okeechobee 2.2 percent, which is the highest ever.
Florida has 765 deaths per 1 million people, which ranks 10th in the nation compared with the U.S. average of 695 per million. New York, which represents 14.9 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,725 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 148.1 per million.
Age breakdown
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 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 change.
Ninety-eight people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus with an increase of 1.
A total of 5,249 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 24 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 12,954 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 50, and 313 were hospitalized, which went up by 1. From ages 5-14, there are 33,561, an increase of 238, with 292 in the hospital at one time, which went up by 2.
From the infant to 54 age group, there are 552,651 of the 766,305 residents' cases. In that group, 1,082 have died, with an increase of 2, for a 0.20 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 652,129 cases. A total of 2,891 have died, an increase of 11 for a 0.44 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 12,184 with an increase of 80. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, increased by 43 to 8,257, followed by Boca Raton at 7,576 up from 7,515, Boynton Beach went to 4,443 from 4,419 and Delray Beach at 3433 vs. 3,314. A total of 1,401 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 5,223, an increase of 35, followed by Fort Pierce at 3,005, up 16, and Stuart with 2,436, which rose by 12.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, remained at 427 compared with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 48,127 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 46,976 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 4,083 in Palm Beach County, with an increase of 18 compared with 9 the day before. Martin went up by 2 to 420, St. Lucie by 7 to 767, Indian River decreased by 1 to 327 and Okeechobee remained at 193.
Long-term care
Forty-one percent of the deaths, 6,641are residents and staff of long-term care, including 713 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 839 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 23 and Palm Beach County went up by 3.
Nation
Since the first death was reported on Feb. 29, the national toll has risen to 224,889, a rise of a world-high 914, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers.info has tabulated 230,068 deaths with an increase of 784.
Cases rose to 8,575,177, which is an increase of 83,718, just behind the record of 83,757 Friday. COVID Tracking Project lists the case increase as 82,666, behind the mark of 83,010 one day earlier.
Last Saturday in the U.S., there were 711 more deaths and 57,519 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 5,603 at 2.6 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 33,418, with Johns Hopkins reporting no change after a high of 799 in April. Hopkins lists confirmed and probable deaths, with the latter not a positive case.
Among other states in the top 10 for deaths: No. 6 Massachusetts 9, No. 7 Illinois 63, No. 8 Pennsylvania 26, No. 9 Georgia 42 and No. 10 Michigan 38.
Also, No. 11 Arizona reported 4 deaths, as well as an additional 890 cases. Washington, the original epicenter in the United States, reported none.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 14.0 percent of 5,599 additional deaths Saturday and 19.9 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.
The one week world death increase was 40,124 at 3.6 percent.
Last Saturday's death increase was 5,667.
Cases increased by 452,906 one day after a record 490,737 and passing 400,000 one week ago Friday for the first time, according to Worldometers.info.
Brazil has been trending down in deaths and cases. The nation, which is second behind the United States for deaths, reported 398 deaths to rise to 156,926. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 25,574 cases at 5,381,224 in third place.
India reported 53,370 new cases compared with a world-record 97,894, for second-place behind the U.S. with 7,814,682. Also, India recorded 650 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to 117,956 and in third place.
Mexico announced 431 more deaths late Saturday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 88,743 in fourth place.
Four European nations are in the top 10 as deaths and cases are surging on the continent. The United Kingdom reported 174 deaths with the daily high 1,172 for 44,745 in fifth place, as well as 23,012 cases two days after a record 26,688. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter and reached 919 in one day, reported 151 deaths, the highest since 157 on May 21, and a record 19,644 cases. No. 7 Spain reported no data after Friday's 233 deaths and 19,851 cases one day after a record 20,986. No. 8 France announced 137 deaths and is 107 behind Spain, as well as a record 45,422 after two days more than 40,000.
No. 9 Peru announced 62 deaths and No. 10 Iran matched its record of 335 deaths set Friday.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,497,167, including a 16,521 one day after a record 17,340. The nation gained 293 deaths three days after a record 317 deaths and is in 13th.
No. 21 Canada reported 34 deaths for a total of 9,922 and 2,227 cases after a record 4,042 Oct. 13. 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 Saturday and is at 5,933. Neighboring Norway reported no deaths for the third day in a row to remain 279, as well as 138 more cases.
No. 33 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, added 15 cases Sunday.