WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's additional coronavirus deaths decreased by 46 to 118 in one day as cases dropped by nearly 400 to 2,908 and the state's first-time daily positivity rate diminished to 4.13 percent, including Palm Beach County down to 2.48, the Florida Health Department announced Friday.
Florida's first-time daily infection rate of all tested decreased from 4.55 percent, a low of 3.74 five days ago and a high of 5.25 three days ago. Palm Beach County's rate decreased from 3.02 the day before and 2.14 on Sept. 27 that was among the lowest in several months. The two-week high was 4.17 on Sept. 30.
The state's total daily positivity rate for all tests dropped to 5.13 percent on 75,582 tests reported by labs to the state Thursday from 5.53 on 77,487 the day before. The highest percentage was 6.82 three days ago. Only 20,987 tests were reported Sept. 27 and the record test total was 142,964 July 11. Palm Beach County had only 130 positive tests.
Since the first two deaths were announced on March 6, which is 217 days, the death toll has reached 15,186, with an average of 70 per day, with the total including nonresidents 15,372, which remained at 186.
It took 12 days for the death toll to pass 15,000 Thursday, nine days 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. Nearly three month ago, July 20, there were 5,075 deaths.
Thursday's one-day increase of 164 was the most since 174 on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The record was 276 deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 11. One week ago Friday there were 110 more fatalities.
Friday's state report noted there were 122 deaths received by the department, including 9 in Palm Beach County, but 4 cases were later determined to be related to COVID-19 for a net increase of 118.
New cases again were under 3,000.
Thursday's cases' increase of 3,306 is the most since 3,573 on Sept. 19. The last time cases were more than 4,000 was 4,684 on Aug. 22.
One Monday ago, Sept. 29, the 738 cases were fewest since June 2 when there were 617 additional infections. Then, they increased to 3,266 on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Florida's total of 728,921 cases is 9.6 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 death toll increased by 9 to 1,416, third highest in the state behind Miami-Dade and Broward, after an increase of 8 Thursday. On the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie rose by 1 to 298, Martin increased by 1 to 145, Indian River remained at 119. Okeechobee climbed by 2 to 32 deaths with its first two fatalities on July 25.
Broward increased by 12 and Miami-Dade by 22.
With a net increase of 47 deaths in South Florida of the 118 state total, which is 39.8 percent, there are 6,883, which is 45.3 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.
Cases in Florida have been trending lower, including in South Florida.
Palm Beach County's daily cases increased by 123 after 141 the day. On Sept. 28, the rise was 27.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 192 compared with 224 the day before. The state reported Friday there are currently 2,139 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 3 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 second place with the addition of 98 deaths Friday after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 16,432. California reported 67 and is in third place with 16,428, which 4 behind Texas. New Jersey, which had been second throughout the pandemic, is in fourth place with 16,164, adding 3 deaths.
Missouri reported the most new deaths Friday, 136, mostly from a backlog of reporting, and is 23rd with 2,395 total.
State and county increases represent fatalities received by the state Thursday 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: 78 on Sept. 9.
Deaths rose by 632 in the state over seven days (a daily average of 90) for 4.3 percent, a figure tally that had been more than 1,200 deaths recently. Earlier the one-week figure was in the mid 200s. Palm Beach County increased by 36 for 2.6 percent. The U.S. figure is 2.3 percent with the world at 3.6 percent.
Miami-Dade rose to 3,409 with 95 more in one week. Broward increased to 1,455 with a rise 40 in one week. St. Lucie has gone up by 6 deaths in one week compared with Martin by 2, Indian River down by 1 with an adjustment and Okeechobee by 4.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 20 states, including Kentucky's 1,242 with 8 reported Friday.
Pinellas increased by 4 to 780 deaths in fourth place and Hillsborough up by 6 to 691 in fifth place, Polk increased by 3 to 552 in sixth, Orange by 7 to 502 in seventh and Lee rose by 2 to 481.
The state Friday identified 10 new deaths in Palm Beach County though there was a net increase of 9 with 7 men (49, 69, 83, 88, 90, 92, 92) and 3 women (87, 93, 96). St. Lucie's new death was a 98-year-man and Martin's was an 87-year-old man. Okeechobee reported a 30-year-old man, the youngest ever in the county, surpssing two 60-year-olds, and a 56-year-old woman.
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 3.4 percent of the state's 21.48 million population with 728,921, third in the nation. The average over 222 days is 3,283 per day.
In one week, cases have risen by 17,117, which averages 2,445 per day, at 2.4 percent.
California has the most cases in the U.S. at 838,606 with the addition of a U.S.-high 3,806. Texas had 3,650 and is second overall with 785,830. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fourth at 471,696 with an additional 692 after 1,836 Thursday, which is the highest since 2,088 on May 21. Wisconsin reported 2,988 cases, one day after a record 3,132, and is 18th overall.
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 47,648, including residents and nonresidents.
Miami-Dade's cases were 391 compared with 441 the day before and Broward's increase was 181 vs. 240. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was 20 in Martin, 27 in St. Lucie, 24 in Indian River, 7 in Okeechobee.
Testing
Florida's total number of people tested is 5,525,411, which is 25.7 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 13.19 percent from 13.21 in one day.
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 decreased from 4.30 percent to 4.08 with a two-week high of 6.82 Sept. 28 and a two-week low of 2.74 on Sept. 27. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 2.7 percent after 3.51, a two-week low of 1.75 on Sept. 27 and a high of 4.02 on Sept. 30.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was 2.53 percent from 2.89, a two-week high of 6.72 on Sept. 29 and a two-week low of 2.47 Sept. 26. Martin's rate was 3.6 percent after 3.17, a two-week low of 1.80 on Sept. 30 and a high of 4.66 on Sept. 25. Indian River's rate was 4.98 from 4.38 percent, a two-week high of 7.31 Sept. 26 and a two-week low of 3.29 seven days ago. Okeechobee's rate was 5.11 percent on 130 negative tests after 3.33 on 261 negative tests, a two-week low of 2.54 on 115 negative tests Sept. 30 and a two-week high of 18.48 on 75 negative tests Sept. 26.
Palm Beach County has 47,648 cases out of 383,084 total tested for 12.44 percent overall, not including those awaiting tests and inconclusive.
Miami-Dade leads with 174,112 positive cases out of 952,053 tested for 13.29 percentage, and Broward is second with 78,795 cases and 590,745 tested for 13.34 percentage.
In Martin County, it's 5,050 of 38,967 for 12.96 percent. In St. Lucie, it's 8,326 out of 65,207 for 12.77 percent, Indian River with 3,416 of 38,299 for 8.92 percent and Okeechobee 1,631 of 11,533 for 14.14 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 2.9 percent worldwide, which passed 1,072,000 deaths and passed 37.0 million cases Friday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate is 3.0 percent, compared with Broward at 1.9 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, 3.5 percent in Indian River and Okeechobee hitting at least 2.0 percent for the first time.
Florida has 707 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 659 per million. New York, which represents 15.6 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,716 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 137.5 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 32 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 decreased by 1.
Eighty-nine people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus with an increase of 1.
A total of 4,840 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 30 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 12,338 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 37, and 292 were hospitalized, which went up by 2. From ages 5-14, there are 30,945, an increase of 132 with 269 in the hospital at one time, which increased by 1.
From the infant to 54 age group, there are 518,795 of the 720,001 residents' cases. In that group, 1,022 have died, with an increase of 10, for a 0.20 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 612,502 cases. A total of 2,696 have died, an increase of 28 for a 0.44 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 11,664 with an increase of 38. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, increased by 9 to 8,008 followed by Boca Raton at 7,033 up from 7,009. Boynton Beach went to 4,190 from 4,181 and Delray Beach at 3,244 vs. 3,237. A total of 1,218 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 4,916, an increase of 16, followed by Fort Pierce at 2,867, up 5, and Stuart with 2,345, which rose by 3.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, increased by to 3 to 418 compared with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 45,675 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 44,489 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 3,822 in Palm Beach County, with a increase of 32 compared with 27 the day before; 408 in Martin, which went up by 1; St. Lucie at 707 with an increase of 1, Indian River rose by 3 to 322 and Okeechobee from 181 to 183.
Long-term care
Forty-one percent of the deaths, 6,169 are residents and staff of long-term care, including 632 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 816 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 43 and Palm Beach County went up by 7.
National
Since the first death was reported six months ago on Feb. 29, the toll has risen to 213,588, a gain of 826, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers reported an increase of 910 to 218,l648.
Cases reached 7,605,873 with an increase of 54,059, 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 Friday in the U.S., there were 916 more deaths and 54,502 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 4,881 at 2.3 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 33,290, with Johns Hopkins reporting as an increase of 63 reported 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 12, No. 7 Illinois 32, No. 8 Pennsylvania 15, No. 9 Georgia 54, No. 10 Michigan 7.
Also, No. 11 Arizona reported 3 deaths, as well as an additional 683 cases. No. 24 Washington, the original epicenter in the United States, reported 6.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 15.7 percent of 5,808 additional deaths Friday and 20.4 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.
The one week world death increase was 36,911 at 3.6 percent.
Last Friday's death increase was 5,610.
Cases increased by a record 358,447, surpassing the mark of 349,339 the day before, according to Worldometers.info.
Brazil, which is second behind the United States for deaths, initially reported 658 deaths to rise to 149,692. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 27,651 cases at 5,057,190 in third place.
India reported 70,496 cases compared with a world-record 97,894 to rise to 6,906,151, which is second in world behind U.S. Also, India recorded a world-high 964 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to 106,490 and in third place.
Mexico announced 411 more deaths late Friday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 83,507 in fourth place.
Four European nations are in the top 10 as cases are surging on the continent. The United Kingdom reported 87 additional deaths for 42,679 in fifth place with the record daily high 1,172, as well as 13,864 cases one day after a record 17,540. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter and reached 919 in one day, reported 28 deaths and 5,372 cases, the most since 5,973 on March 28. No. 8 Spain reported 241 deaths and 5,986 cases. No. 9 France is 346 behind Spain, announcing 62 deaths, as well as a record 20,339 cases, after back-to-back more than 18,000.
No. 7 Peru announced 60 deaths and is 229 ahead of Spain. No. 10 Iran reported 210 deaths, below the record 239 two days earlier.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,272,238, including an additional record 12,126 after five days in a row of more than 11,000. The nation gained 201 deaths and in 13th.
No. 21 Canada reported 28 deaths for a total of 9,585 and 2,558 cases behind the record of 2,804 four days earlier. Between May 26 and Aug. 30 cases were never more than 1,000.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity" with no lockdown, reported 5 deaths and is at 5,894. Neighboring Norway reported no deaths for the seventh day in a row to remain at 275, as well as 73 more cases.
No. 32 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, added 15 cases Saturday.
