WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The coronavirus death toll in Palm Beach County rose by 8 to 186 as fatalities in Florida increased by 50 to 1,268, the Florida Department of Health announced Thursday morning.
State deaths rose by 4.1 percent. On Wednesday, the increase was 47, one day after a state-record 83 were reported. The previous daily record was 72 on April 14.
Palm Beach County's death toll increased by 5 on Wednesday after 17 on Tuesday. One death was reported Monday after none Saturday and Sunday.
The number of new cases statewide increased from 347 to 497. Last Thursday, 1,072 cases were reported. In Palm Beach County, the cases increased by 52 after 34 more Wednesday.
The positive test rate remained at 8.8 percent compared with more than 10 percent one week ago. A total of 384,153 have been tested in the state with 348,715 negative results.
Two massive testing sites are located in Palm Beach County: the South County Civic Center and FITTEAM Ballpark in West Palm Beach. In addition, a test site has opened in Belle Glade as well as in Fort Pierce. Walkup sites are planned in West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Delray Beach and Riviera Beach. Other big testing sites at located at Marlins Park and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami-Dade County.
Miami-Dade County has the most deaths in the state, increasing by 14 to 352 in one day. Broward County rose to 185 with an increase of 3 for second place.
Twenty-six of the additional 50 deaths are linked to South Florida, including the sixth fatality in Martin, a 79-year-old man, and the first one in seven days. Staying the same are St. Lucie with 22, Indian River with 7 and Okeechobee none.
South Florida accounts for 758 deaths, which is 59.8 percent of the state total though the population comprises 30 percent. The county with the fourth most deaths is Manatee with 55, a rise of 6.
The mortality rate involving positive cases is 3.7 percent in the state compared with 5.8 percent in the United States and 7.1 percent worldwide, which passed 233,000 deaths Thursday. In Palm Beach County the rate is 6.3 percent compared with 3.7 percent in Broward and 2.9 percent in Miami-Dade. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 8.9 percent in St. Lucie, 7.7 percent in Indian River and 3.1 percent in Martin.
The deaths in the state range from a 26-year-old man in Miami-Dade to a pair of 101-year-old women in Miami-Dade and Collier. Ninety-three percent of the fatalities are 55 and older and 60 percent 75 and older.
In Palm Beach County, a 30-year-old man's death was announced Wednesday, youngest in the county. His case was first reported to the state on April 15, and he is one of 12 fatalities between 25 and 34 years old. The other new deaths are six other men, 63, 79, 87, 89, 94, as well as two women, 43 and 72. The oldest is a 96-year-old woman.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 19 states.
Florida ranks 10th in the nation in total deaths, according to Thursday tracking by Worldometers.info.Florida was 637 behind No. 9 Louisiana, which had 60 more fatalities. Georgia, which has opened nonessential businesses, is in 12th place with 1,132, an increase of 34 deaths Thursday after 62 deaths Wednesday, 31 deaths Tuesday and 78 Monday.
New York leads with 23,780 deaths, including 306 more Thursday after 330 Wednesday and 521 Tuesday.
For the first time since the pandemic hit New York, the state didn't report the most deaths in the nation. Neighboring New Jersey reported 458 to remain in second place at 6,770.
No other state reported more than 200 deaths.
No. 3 Michigan announced 119 more, No. 4 Massachusetts 157, No. 5 Pennsylvania 187, No. 6 Illinois 140, No. 7 Connecticut 89. California, which is the most populous state with 40 million people, initially announced 90 more fatalities for eighth at 2,029.
Washington, which was the original epicenter in the United States, is in 15th place with 13 more deaths Thursday.
A total of 63,856 have died from the virus in the United States, including 2,201 Thursday, 2,390 reported Wednesday and 2,470 Tuesday.
The U.S. represented 27.3 percent of the world total and 37.9 percent of the additional deaths.
New deaths have been declining overseas, including Italy, France and Spain.
Italy, which at one time was an epicenter of the virus, is second in the world and gained only 285 more Thursday after a high of 919 on March 27. No. 4 Spain increased by 268 fatalities after a high of 961 on April 2. France reported 289 more deaths for fifth place and a high of 1,438 on April 15.
But the United Kingdom's situation has not stabilized, recording 674 for third place though its high was last week with 1,172.
And Brazil's death toll continues to surge, recording nearly 1,400 deaths over three days -- 390 Thursday after 520 Wednesday and 448 Tuesday -- for ninth place. The death count Thursday was the third-highest in the world.
China, the original epicenter, reported only 12 new cases and zero new deaths Friday for 11th place behind the Netherlands.
One week ago Thursday in the United States, there were 50,234, two weeks ago there were 34,905, three weeks ago 19,882, four weeks ago 7,576, five weeks ago 1,614, six weeks ago 239, seven weeks ago 41, eight weeks ago 12, nine weeks ago 0.
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The county's total number of confirmed cases are wide-ranging, with the youngest person being an infant girl and boy and the oldest a 104-year-old man. In the state, there are 174 cases of children up to 4.
West Palm Beach leads Palm Beach County with 561, followed by Boca Raton with 440, Lake Worth Beach with 429, Boynton Beach with 375 and Delray Beach with 331. The most cases on the Treasure Coast are in Port St. Lucie with 167.
Palm Beach County has 2,963 cases out of 28,005 total tested, including 54 awaiting results, for 10.6 percent
Miami-Dade leads with 12,063 positive cases out of 84,619 tested for 14.2 percent, and Broward is second with 4,953 cases and 45,986 tested for a 10.8 percentage.
On the Treasure Coast, 14 additional cases were reported Thursday -- 8 in St. Lucie, 5 in Martin and 1 in Okeechobee.
In St. Lucie, it's 247 positive out of 3,266 total tested for 7.6 percent, followed by Martin with 191 out of 1,807 for 10.6 percent, Indian River with 90 out of 1,815 for 5.0 percent and Okeechobee with 11 out of 384 for 2.9percent.
A total of 5,589 people in the state have been hospitalized at one time, which is 170 more than the day before. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died. The number is 440 in Palm Beach County, 72 in St. Lucie, 40 in Martin, 26 in Indian River and 5 in Okeechobee.
Intensive care units' beds are at 36.5 percent capacity, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday. And he said more hospitals beds are available than March 1.