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State's cases rise by 10,870, highest since July; 98 more deaths most in month

First-time daily positivity rates drop: Florida from 9.11% to 8.19, Palm Beach County from 8.01% to 7.52
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Posted at 3:33 PM, Dec 03, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-03 16:41:00-05

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's new coronavirus cases rose by 10,870, the most since July, as deaths increased by 98, the highest in more than one month, the Florida Health Department announced Thursday.

Florida's increased deaths have remained under triple digits for 43 days though six states reported at least 100 Thursday. The U.S. set a daily record with 2,879 reported Thursday, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins.

Also, total tests in Florida reported from labs Wednesday were 146,910, compared with 122,925 the day before with a record 170,275 seven days ago. The state's daily first-time positivity rate decreased from 9.11 percent to 8.11. Palm Beach County's rate dropped from 8.01 percent to 7.52.

The state considers anything above 5 percent in the "danger" threshold.

The last time there were more than 10,000 cases was Sunday, Nov. 15, the 10,101, which were the highest since 12,199 on July 25. The record is 15,200, also in July.

Cases reached 1,029,030 with only No. 1 California and No. 2 Texas also reporting more than 1 million. Florida's infections passed 900,000 13 days earlier, after surpassing 800,000 on Oct. 30, 700,000 on Sept. 27, 600,000 on Aug. 23, 500,000 on Aug. 5, 400,000 on July 24, 300,000 on July 15, 200,000 on July 5, 100,000 on June 22.

A total of 20.7 percent of the cases were in Miami-Dade: 2,254. Much fewer were Palm Beach County with 579, Broward 1,257, St. Lucie 89, Martin 57, Indian River 63 and Okeechobee 2 after none four days before.

New cases rose 9,994 Tuesday and 18,363 last Friday when there were two days of data because of none released on Thanksgiving.

Florida's cases are 7.3 percent of the total infections in the U.S., which passed 14 million Thursday after 13 million Friday after 12 million Saturday and 11 million the previous Sunday, though the state only comprises 6.5 percent of the population.

Since the first two cases were announced nine months ago on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 4.8 percent of the state's 21.48 million population, 24th in cases per million, which has been dropping the last few weeks. In average cases over the last seven days, Florida is ranked 38th, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Over six days, cases have risen by 50,010 for an average of 8,335 at 5.8 percent. The previous week the increase was 55,784 for an average of 7,969. The average since the first case, which was 277 days ago, is 3,715 per day.

The state Thursday reported 107 deaths with at least 9 previous cases deleted as a fatality for a net increase of 98.

Deaths rose by 97 Wednesday and 109 last Friday over two days.

Thursday's 98 were most since 105 on Oct. 21, when it last hit triple digits. They previously were the last highest 141 on Thursday, Oct. 15. The record was 276 deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 11.

On Monday, Nov. 23, the increase of 94 was the most ever for that day of the week. That day the state passed the 18,000 death milestone, taking 17 days to increase more than 1,000. 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. On July 20, there were 5,075 deaths.

Since the first two deaths were announced on March 6, which is 271 days, the death toll has reached 18,874 for an average of 70 per day. Florida's total including nonresidents is 19,112 which increased by 2 to 238.

Palm Beach County increased by 10 to 1,709 deaths after 2 the day before. First-place Miami-Dade rose by 8 to 3,868 and Broward is third at 1,1687 with a rise of 14

St. Lucie decreased by 1 in an adjustment to 370 as Martin increased by 2 to 178, Indian River down by 1 to 139 and Okeechobee stayed at 44, one day afetr a rise of 1 in the first increase since Nov. 10, with its first two fatalities on July 25.

With a net increase of 32 deaths in South Florida of the 98 state total, there are 7,971, which is 42.2 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.

The number of increased deaths since Friday is 511, an average of 85 and 2.8 percent, compared with 521 the previous week. Palm Beach County increased by 29 deaths over seven days for 1.7 percent. The U.S. figure is 4.9 percent with the world at 5.1 percent.

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: 63 on Nov. 13.

Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 253 compared with 370 the day before. The state reported Tuesday there are currently 4,290 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 38 more in one day.

DEATHS

Since June 16, Florida has climbed seven spots from 11th place in the nation to fourth. And the state is 15th in deaths per million.

The 21 deaths of 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 18 states, including Kansas' 1,679 with no report Thursday.

Fourth-place Hillsborough County increased by 9 to 947, Pinellas by 4 to 915 in fifth place, Polk by 1 to 691 in sixth, Orange by 4 to 652 in seventh, Duval stayed at 634 in eighth and Lee by 8 to 596.

The state report Thursday identified 9 from Palm Beach County of 5 women (78, 84, 85, 90, 95) and 4 men (74, 82, 91, 95). Martin reported 2 men (78, 95) and Okeechobee a 95-year-old man.

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.

TESTING

Worldometers.info lists Florida with 12,517,482 total tests behind No. 1 California and No. 2 New York with Texas fourth and Illinois fifth.

Florida first-time daily infection rate of tests one day ago of 9.11 was the highest since 8.75 on Nov. 16. The low was 6.18 five days ago.

The state's total daily positivity rate moved from 10.5 percent to 10.87, two dates that were above that barrier since Nov. 13 at 11.37. During the record 170,272 tests six days ago the rate was 8.41 percent. Only 20,987 tests were reported Sept. 27.

Palm Beach County's 9.95 percent rate two days ago was the most since 10.03 on Nov. 16, to 7.96. The two-week low was 5.40 seven days ago. The rate was 1.92 on Oct. 11, which was the smallest since 1.5 percent on May 19.

Miami-Dade's rates went from 9.77 percent to 9.38 after a two-week low of 640 sevendays ago and a high of 10.17 four days ago. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 7.99 percent after 8.59, a two-week high of 8.45 three days ago and a two-week low of 6.04 on back-to-back days of Nov. 24 and 25.

St. Lucie's rate went from 11.20 percent to 8.17 after a two-week high of 13.37 two days ago and a two-week low 4.72 six days ago. Martin's rate went from 11.25 percent to a two-week high of 11.52 and a two-week low of 5.49 four days ago. Indian River's rate was 4.72 percent after 6.59, a two-week low of 3.64 five days ago and a two-week high of 8.88 seven days ago. Okeechobee's rate of 3.65 percent on 185 negative tests was one day after 7.23 on 154 negative tests, a two-week high of 25.0 on 39 negative tests two days ago and a two-week low of 1.44 percent on 205 negative tests six days ago. 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 2.0 percent for all deaths and cases, including nonresidents, compared with 2.0 percent in the United States and 2.3 percent worldwide, which passed 1,511,000 deaths and passed 65.5 million cases Thursday, according to Worldometers.info.

County rates: Palm Beach County 2.6 percent, Broward 1.5 (-0.1), Miami-Dade 1.7, St. Lucie 3.4, Martin 2.8, Indian River 2.7 (-0.1), Okeechobee 2.1.

Deaths per million: Florida 879, U.S. 854, world 193.8. New York, which represents 12.6 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,785 per million. Six months ago New York was 29.4 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 33 deaths in the 15-24 class, including a 16-year-old girl in Miami-Dade. This class rose by 1, the since Sept. 24 and at one time it was 33 then there was a reduction.

Ages 25-34: 111 people with no change.

55 and older: 93 percent of fatalities. Smaller percentage tested positive – 27 percent age 55 and older and 6 percent 75 and older.

85 and older: 5,955 people 85 and older, an increase of 27 in one day.

Infant to 4: 17,320, an increase of 223, and 371 were hospitalized, which went up by 3. Ages 5-14: 48,071 cases, an increase of 779, with 340 in the hospital at one time, which rose by 3.

Infant to 54 age group: 730,204 of the 1,012,456 residents' cases. In that group, 1,231 have died with an increase of 6 for a 0.17 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 861,926 cases. A total of 3,303 have died, with 9 more, for a 0.38 percentage.

CITIES

West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities at 16,430 with an increase of 163. No. 2 Boca Raton rose by 144 to 11,078. No. 3 Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, rose by 58 to 10,586. No. 4 Boynton Beach is at 6,190 from 6,133. No. 5 Delray Beach at 4,837 vs. 4,767.

Port St. Lucie leads the Treasure Coast with 7,135, rising 62, followed by Fort Pierce at 3,827, with an increase of 22, and Stuart at 3,102, a rise of 21.

In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, rose by 2 to 509 with only 3 on May 31.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

A total of 55,820 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 54,467 six days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.

Palm Beach County: 4,598 with8 more compared with 18 day before. Martin down by 3 466, St. Lucie up by 5 to 903, Indian River by 5 to 435 and Okeechobee stayed at 217.

LONG-TERM CARE

Thirty-nine percent of the deaths, 7,398 are residents and staff of long-term care with increase of 22. Palm Beach County second at 764 with a rise of 1. Miami-Dade leads with 868.

NATION

Deaths

Since the first death was reported on Feb. 29, the national toll has risen to 276,325, a rise of a world-high and record 2,879 surpassing the mark of 2,804 Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins. Nineteen states reported at least 50 more deaths.

Weekly changes: Last Thursday on Thanksgiving in the U.S., there were 1,232 more deaths and 110,611 cases. The one-week death increase was 12,871 at 4.9 percent.

Top-ranked states: No. 1 New York: increase of 57 at 34,775 after daily high of 799 in April. Hopkins lists confirmed and probable deaths for New York, with the latter not a positive case. No. 2 Texas: increase of U.S.-high 244 at 22,000. No. 3 California: increase of 113 at 19,437. No. 5: New Jersey: increase of 64 at 17,209.

Among states in top 10: No. 6 Illinois 192, No. 7 Pennsylvania 187 (passed Massachusetts), No. 8 Massachusetts 49, No. 9 Michigan 175 and No. 10 Georgia 53.

Setting records were: No. 26 Colorado 127, No. 17 Tennessee 93, No. 29 Iowa 70, No. 32 Nevada 48. Others with at least 52 newly reported deaths: No. 23 Minnesota 92, No. 11 Arizona 82, No. 12 Ohio 82, No. 24 Alabama 65, No. 25 Wisconsin 60, No. 14 Indiana 60, No. 20 Missouri 59 and No.27 Washington, the original epicenter in the U.S., 50.

Cases

Cases increased to 14,139,577 with a rise of 217,664, surpassing the previous mark of 205,557 Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins.

Top-ranked states: No. 1 California at 1,264,539 with 18,591 one day after a U.S.-record 20,759. No. 2 Texas 1,215,113 with 13,857 two days after state-record 15,182. No. 4 Illinois at 759,562 with 10,959 after what was a U.S. record 15,415 on Nov. 13. No. 5 New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fifth at 674,093 with an increase of 9,855.

Thirty-one states reported at least 2,000 cases, including 7 with state records: No. 10 Pennsylvania 11,406, No. `14 Indiana 8,527, No. 12 Massachusetts 6,477, No. 12 North Carolina 4,199, No. 15 Arizona 5,442, No. `13 New Jersey 4,350, No. 31 Arkansas 2,789.

Others with high numbers: No. 7 Ohio 8,921, No. 8 Michigan 7,146, No.16 Minnesota 6,166, No. 19 Colorado 6,037, No. 35 Connecticut 4,751 (data not daily), No. 9 Wisconsin 4,618, No. 17 Missouri 3,998, No. 11 Tennessee 3,967, No. 25 Utah 3,945, No. 28 Kentucky 3,895, No. 18 Alabama 3,551.

Worldwide

The U.S. represented 23.0 percent of the record 12,660 deaths, surpassing the former mark of 12,396 Wednesday and 18.7percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.

Weekly changes: Last Thursday 11,274 deaths and 620,699 cases. The one-week death increase was 73,344 at 5.1 percent.

Cases: Increased by a record 684,852 after the former mark of 663,288 on Nov. 20 with 500,00 passing for the first time Oct. 28 and 400,000 for the first time on Oct. 15.

No. 2 Brazil: 608 deaths for a total of 175,307. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. Case: 11,251 third at 6,487,516.

No. 3 India: 526 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to 138,646 and in third place. Cases: 35,551 more compared with a record 97,894 and is second in the world behind the U.S. with 9,534,964.

No. 4 Mexico: 800 deaths compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 108,173 in fourth place: Cases: 11,030 five days after record 12,081.

Europe: Coronavirus is surging at record cases levels and deaths that are the highest since the spring with nations instituting lockdowns. The continent reported 5,489 new deaths and 213,059 cases.

Five European nations are in the top 10. No. 5 United Kingdom 414 deaths, behind the record 1,166 April 21, as well 14,879 cases after a record 33,470 on Nov. 12. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter, a record 993 deaths, surpassed the mark of r921 on March 28, and 14,879 cases after record 40,896 on Nov. 13. No. 7 France 324 deaths after 932 on Nov. 13 that was the most since a record of 1,437 in April, as well as 12,696 cases after a record 86,852 on Oct. 31 and is fourth overall with 2,257,331. No. 9 Spain 254 deaths and 6,104 cases. No. 10 Russia 554 deaths one day afterrecord 589 and record 28,145 cases and fifth overall with 2,375,546.

Also, Poland reported 620 deaths, compared with a record 674 on Nov. 25, and is in 15th place. And Germany added 483 deaths two days after a record 497 in 16th.

No. 8 Iran: 358 deaths after a record 486 on Nov. 16, and 13,922 cases six days after a record 14,051.

No. 23 Canada: 82 deaths for a total of 12,407 and 6,495 cases after record 6,131 Nov. 22. Canada passed Iraq.

Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity" with no lockdown, reported 26 deaths and is at 7,007. Neighboring Norway reported 2 deaths to rise to 353, as well as 402 more cases.

China: the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26 and recently dropped to 38th. China added 17 cases Friday.

Japan: 36 deaths, the most since 49 in May, for a total of 2,274, including 13 on a ship. Cases: 2,518, behind a record 2,679 Saturday.