WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida reported an additional 12 coronavirus deaths, the lowest since 5 on Sept. 23, and the 2,385 new cases were almost half as many as the day before, the state Health Department announced Sunday. But with fewer tests reported, Florida's first-time positivity rate increased to 4.71 percent from 3.66 and Palm Beach County significantly to 5.14 percent from 2.67.
The state's data on fatalities and infections traditionally decline from weekend information.
The only increase in deaths in South Florida was Miami-Dade with 7.
Cases rose by 4,471 on Saturday, the third day in one week they surpassed 4,000, after rising by 3,689 Friday and 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 Sunday, cases rose by 2,539.
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 77 on Saturday after 73 Friday and 57 Thursday. Last Sunday's increase was 50. The previous low was 41 on Oct. 5.
The last time there was a triple-digit increase was 105 Wednesday, and they were last highest 141 on Thursday, Oct. 15. The record was 276 deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Palm Beach County's deaths remained at 1,561, which is second to Miami-Dade and ahead of Broward, after an increase of 3 Saturday.
On the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie remained at 329 and Martin at 164 with Indian River declining by 1 to 125 with a change in classification. Okeechobee remained at 38 with its first two fatalities on July 25.
With a net increase of 6 deaths in South Florida of the 12 state total, there are 7,349, 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 233 days, the death toll has reached 16,429 for an average of 71 per day. Florida's total including nonresidents is 16,632, which remained at 203.
Florida's first-time daily infection rate of tests reported by labs Saturday increased to 4.71 percent from a two-low of 3.66 and a high of 6.71 four days ago.
Palm Beach County climbed to 5.14 percent from 2.67 the day before and the two-week low was 1.92 on Oct. 11, which was the smallest since 1.5 percent on May 19. The high was 5.48 five days ago.
The state's total daily positivity rate for all tests increased to 5.98 percent on 53,835 tests received Saturday from 4.64 on 127,359 tests with both figures two-week highs. The 14-day high was 8.02 four days ago 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 23,616 for an average of 3,374 at 3.1 percent. The previous week the increase was 20,529 with an average of 2,933.
The number of deaths over one week is 462, an average of 66, compared with 603 the previous week.
State and county increases represent fatalities received by the state Saturday 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 Sunday identified 14 deaths with 2 previously reported cases deleted as fatalities for a net increase of 12.
Florida's total of 778,636 cases is 9.0 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 209 one day after 328. On Sept. 28, the rise was 27.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 80 compared with 174 the day before. The state reported Sunday there are currently 2,214 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which is 51 more than Saturday.
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 48 deaths Sunday after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 17,504. California reported 34 and is in third place with 17,345, which is 159 behind Texas. New Jersey, which had been second throughout the pandemic, is in fifth place with 16,285, adding 4 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 71 deaths over seven days for 4.8 percent. The U.S. figure is 2.5 percent with the world at 3.6 percent.
Miami-Dade rose to 3,612 with 72 more in seven days. Broward is at 1,520 with an increase of 10. St. Lucie has gone up by 12 deaths compared with Martin by 9, Indian River by 3 and Okeechobee by 1.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 20 states, including Kentucky's 1,407 with 3 reported Sunday.
Remaining the same were Pinellas with 816 deaths in fourth place, Hillsborough with 759 in fifth, Polk with 615 in sixth, Orange with 546 in seventh and Lee with 506 in eighth.
The state report Sunday identified the death of a 64-year-old man from Indian River, though the county had a net decrease of 1.
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 778,636, third in the nation and seventh in cases per million. The average over 236 days is 3,299 per day.
California has the most cases in the U.S. at 898,029 with a U.S.-high 5,219 more Sunday. Texas had 3,793 and is second overall with 862,375. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fourth at 495,464 with an increase of 1,632. No. 5 Illinois reported 4,062, while No. 13 Wisconsin added 3,626 and No. 8 Tennessee 3,500.
In Palm Beach County, new cases have been much lower since the record 1,171 July 5. The total now is 50,525, including residents and nonresidents.
Miami-Dade's cases were 309 compared with 616 the day before and Broward's increase was 285 vs. 459. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was Martin 11 vs. 33 the day before, St. Lucie 36 vs. 59, Indian River 25 vs. 35 and Okeechobee 3 vs. 13.
Testing
Florida's total number of people tested is 5,960,050, 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 277,499.
The overall Florida positive rate remained at 13.06 percent from the 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 increased to 3.43 percent from a two-week low of 2.45 percent one day and a 14-day high of 5.16 three days ago. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 4.55 percent after 2.85, a two-week high of 5.87 four days ago and a two-week low of 2.26 on Oct. 11.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was 6.35 percent after 5.84 one day ago, a two-week high of 9.32 four days ago and a low of 2.61 Oct. 12. Martin's rate was 5.46 percent after 4.42, a two-week low of 1.03 seven days ago and a two-week high of 7.11 Oct. 16. Indian River's rate was a two-week low of 8.99 percent after 4.63 and a two-week low of 2.07 on Oct. 12. Okeechobee's rate was 9.43 percent on 48 negative tests after 6.15 on 168 negative tests, a two-week high of 15.66 on 70 tests five days ago and zero on 22 tests Oct. 11.
Palm Beach County has 50,525 cases out of 415,627 total tested for 12.16 percent overall, not including those awaiting tests and inconclusive.
Miami-Dade leads with 181,942 positive cases out of 1,032,525 tested for 17.62 percentage, and Broward is second with 83,450 cases and 643,892 tested for 12.96 percentage.
In Martin County, it's 5,287 of 41,839 for 12.64 percent. In St. Lucie, it's 8,893 out of 70,264 for 12.66 percent, Indian River with 3,714 of 41,504 for 8.95 percent and Okeechobee 1,714 of 12,117 for 14.15 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 neared 1,159,000 deaths and passed 43.3 million cases Sunday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate is 3.1 percent compared with Broward at 1.8 percent and Miami-Dade with 2.0 percent. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.7 percent in St. Lucie, 3.1 in Martin, 3.4 percent in Indian River 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 696 per million. New York, which represents 14.8 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,725 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 148.7 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 no change.
A total of 5,251 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 2 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 12,987 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 33, and 315 were hospitalized, which went up by 2. From ages 5-14, there are 33,720, an increase of 159, with 292 in the hospital at one time, which didn't change.
From the infant to 54 age group, there are 554,382 of the 768,653 residents' cases. In that group, 1,082 have died, with no change, for a 0.20 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 654,148 cases. A total of 2,891 have died, also no change, for a 0.44 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 12,228 with an increase of 44. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, increased by 71 to 8,328, followed by Boca Raton at 7,618 up from 7,576, Boynton Beach went to 4,457 from 4,443 and Delray Beach at 3,445 vs. 3,433. A total of 1,414 1 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 5,240, an increase of 17, followed by Fort Pierce at 3,017, up 12, and Stuart with 2,436, which rose by 2.
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 48,207 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 47,053 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 4,086 in Palm Beach County, with an increase of 3 compared with 18 the day before. Martin remained at 420, St. Lucie by 2 to 769, Indian River stayed at 327 and Okeechobee decreased by 1 to 192.
Long-term care
Forty percent of the deaths, 6,642 are 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 1 and Palm Beach County didn't change.
Nation
Since the first death was reported on Feb. 29, the national toll has risen to 225,212, a rise of 323, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers.info has tabulated 230,510 deaths with an increase of 442.
Cases rose to 8,632,200, a rise of 77,003, behind 83,718 Saturday and the record of 83,757 Friday. COVID Tracking Project lists the case increase as 65,413, behind the mark of 83,010 two days earlier.
Last Sunday in the U.S., there were 389 more deaths and 48,210 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 5,538 at 2.5 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 33,422, with Johns Hopkins reporting 4 more 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 25, No. 7 Illinois 24, No. 8 Pennsylvania 9, No. 9 Georgia 1 and No. 10 Michigan no data.
Also, No. 11 Arizona reported 5 deaths, as well as an additional 1,391 cases, the most since 17,53 on Sept. 17. Washington, the original epicenter in the United States, reported none for the second day in a row.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 9.8 percent of 4,495 additional deaths Sunday 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 40,624 at 3.6 percent.
Last Sunday's death increase was 4,095.
Cases increased by 404,793 two days 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 237 deaths Sunday to rise to 157,163. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 12,904 cases at 5,394,128 in third place.
India reported 50,129 new cases compared with a world-record 97,894, for second-place behind the U.S. with 7,864,811. Also, India recorded a world-high 578 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to 118,534 and in third place.
Mexico announced 181 more deaths late Sunday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 88,924 in fourth place.
Four European nations are in the top 10 as deaths and cases are surging on the continent. The United Kingdom reported 151 deaths with the daily high 1,172 for 44,896 in fifth place, as well as 19,790 cases three 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 128 deaths, one day after 151 deaths, the highest since 157 on May 21, and a record 21,273 cases. France announced 116 deaths and passed Spain by 9 deaths into seventh, as well as a record 52,010 cases one day after 45,222 and two other days each of more than 40,000. Spain reported no data after Friday's 233 deaths and 19,851 cases one day after a record 20,986.
No. 9 Peru announced 54 deaths, just 603 behind Spain, and No. 10 Iran 96 Sunday after back-to-back record 335 deaths.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,513,877, including 16,710 two days after a record 17,340. The nation gained 229 deaths four days after a record 317 deaths and is in 13th.
No. 21 Canada reported 24 deaths for a total of 9,946 and 2,145 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 over the weekend and is at 5,933. Neighboring Norway reported no deaths for the fourth day in a row to remain 279, as well as 94 more cases.
No. 33 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, added 20 cases Monday.