WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's first-time coronavirus daily positivity rate increased by nearly 2 percentage points to 8.07 and Palm Beach County soared from 5.9 percent to 8.6, the highest in three months, as testing subsided to 52,447. Also cases increased by 3,924, which was 2,356 less than the day before, and deaths rose by 58, which was 37 more than Sunday, the Florida Health Department announced Monday afternoon, around 6 hours later than the normal release.
The state considers anything above 5 percent in the "danger" threshold.
Positivity percentages have been in an up, down, up situation over four days. Florda first-time daily infection rate of tests reported by labs Sunday was 1.83 percent more than the day before rate of 6.26. Two days ago the rate was 8.26, the highest in three months. Last week the rates were 7.58 and 7.73 on successive days. The two-week low was 4.91 on Oct. 28.
Palm Beach County's percentage rate increased from 5.9 percent to 8.62, which is the highest since 8.81 on Aug. 10, not including a date dump when it was 8.68 two weeks ago. Two days earlier, the 4.59 percentage was the lowest in two weeks and broke a string of 12 days in a row 5 percent or above. The rate was 1.92 on Oct. 11, which was the smallest since 1.5 percent on May 19.
The state's total daily positivity rate for all tests increased to 10 percent on ``116,966 tests one day after 7.67 on 116,961 tests. Two days ago the rate was a two-week high at the time of 9.81 on 58,291 tests. The rate also hit 9.31 percent on 61,919 tests five days ago. The two-week low was 6.01 on Oct. 28. Only 20,987 tests were reported Sept. 27 and the record test total was 142,964 July 11.
Cases had exceeded at least 4,000 in 12 of the past 13 days. Sunday's increase was 6,820 after Saturday's 4,452 and Friday's 5,245. On Thursday there were 6,257 cases, which was the highest since 6,352 on Aug. 15, not including 7,569 Sept. 1 because of a data dump.
Sunday's increase topped that and is the most since 8,109 on Aug. 12.
Last Monday they rose by 4,651.
The previous they were under 4,000 was Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2,331 and the lowest since 2,144 on Oct. 21.
Despite a surge in cases, deaths have been trending down in Florida.
Sunday's deaths rose by 21, which was the lowest in two weeks and Saturday's 86 was the most since 105 on Oct. 21, the last time they were in triple digits. They previously were the last highest 141 on Thursday, Oct. 15. The record was 276 deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Palm Beach County increased by 1 to 1,610 deaths, which is second to Miami-Dade and ahead of Broward after no change Sunday.
Remaining the same on the Treasure Coast were St. Lucie at 341 and Indian River but Martin rose by 1 to 170. Okeechobee went up by 1 to 43 with its first two fatalities on July 25.
Broward rose by 11 and Miami-Dade by 5.
With a net increase of 19 deaths in South Florida of the 58 state total, there are 7,537, which is 43.9 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.
The number of deaths over one week is 345, an average of 49, compared with 385 the previous week.
In one week cases have risen by 35,759 for an average of 5,108 at 4.3 percent. The previous week the increase was 30,053 with an average of 4,293. The average since the first case, which was 253 days ago, is 3,351 per day.
Florida's total of 847,821 cases is 8.4 percent of the total infections in the U.S., which passed 10 million Monday, though the state only comprises 6.5 percent of the population.
On Monday, Sept. 29, the 738 cases were fewest since June 2 when there were 617 additional infections. Then, they then increased to 3,266 on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
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.
Palm Beach County's daily cases increased by 367 one day after 447. On Sept. 28, the rise was 27.
Cases passed 800,000 on Oct. 31, 700,000 on Sept. 27, after going above 600,000 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.
Since the first two deaths were announced on March 6, which is 248 days, the death toll has reached 17,179 for an average of 69 per day. Florida's total including nonresidents is 17,481, which remained at 212.
It took 19 days for the toll to pass from 16,000 to 17,100 on Friday. Deaths passed 16,000 residents, 16,021 on Oct. 19, which is 19 days ago. It took 12 days for Florida's death toll to go from the 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.
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: 53 on Oct. 11.
The state report Monday identified 23 deaths with 35 previously reported cases added as a fatality for a net increase of 58.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 102 compared with 63 the day before. The state reported Monday there are currently 2,902 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which was 119 more than Sunday.
Deaths
Since June 16, Florida has climbed seven spots from 11th place in the nation to fourth. And the state is 12th in deaths per million.
Texas is in second place with the addition of 26 deaths after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 18,769. California reported two days of data, 24 from Sunday and 14 Monday for third place with 17,977. New Jersey, which had been second throughout the pandemic, is in fifth place with 16,440, adding 11 fatalities.
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 15 deaths over seven days for 0.9 percent. The U.S. figure is 2.9 percent with the world at 4.6 percent.
Miami-Dade rose to 3,688 with 19 more in seven days. Broward is at 1,559 with the increase of 28 in a week. St. Lucie has gone up by 5 deaths compared with Martin by 3, Indian River by 1 and Okeechobee by 3.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 20 states, including Kentucky's 1,565 with 4 reported Monday.
Hillsborough is fourth place with 5 more deaths at 847 as Pinellas remained at 83`1 in fifth place, and staying the same were Polk at 638 in sixth, Orange up by 1 592 in seventh and Lee stayed at 531 in eighth.
The state report Monday identified no deaths in Palm Beach County, Martin or Okeechobee with the increase of 1 each.
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced eight months ago on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 3.9 percent of the state's 21.48 million population with 847,821 third in the nation and 13th in cases per million.
California has the most cases in the U.S. at 977,851 with 7,212 Sunday and 7,682 Monday. Texas had 3,816 and is second overall with 963,019. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fourth at 532,180 with an increase of 2,144.
Twenty-one states reported at least 2,000 cases, including No. 5 Illinois with a U.S.-high 10,130. Four set records: No. 8 Tennessee with 5,919, No. 23 Iowa with 5,102, No. 33 Kansas with 5,101 (data reported three days a week) and No. 27 Colorado with 3,553. Other states with high numbers were: No. 12 Ohio with 4,706, No. 13 Pennsylvania with 4,562, No. 14 Michigan with 4,405, No. 9 Wisconsin with 4,360, No. 16 Indiana with 4,135, No. 15 Missouri with 4,091, No. 21 Minnesota with 3,926.
Miami-Dade's cases were 523 compared with 1,710 the day before and Broward's increase was 444 vs. 625. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was Martin 18 vs. 18, St. Lucie 34 vs. 30, Indian River 34 vs. 21 and Okeechobee 8 vs. 4.
Testing
The state is no longer listing a running total of Floridians tested or total tests. Worldometers.info lists Florida with 10,5600,474 total tests behind No. 1 California, No. 2 New York, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Illinois.
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 7.95 percent one day after 7.02, a two-week high of 8.42 two days ago and a two-week low of 5.11 on Oct. 28. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 7.47 percent one day after 5.98, a two-week high of 8.22 percent two days ago and a two-week low of 4.31 Oct. 30.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was a two-week high of 9.24 percent one day after a 14-day low of 3.04. Martin's rate was 6.64 percent one day after 3.96, a two-week low of 2.49 three days ago and a two-week high of 6.95 Oct. 27. Indian River's rate was a two-week high of 10.48 percent one day after 4.33 and a two-week low of 3.69 on Oct. 30. Okeechobee's rate was 9.2 percent on 79 negative tests one day after 5.63 percent on 67 negative tests, a two-week high of 19.44 on 67 negative tests two days ago and zero percent on 32 negative tests seven days ago.
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 2.4 percent in the United States and 2.5 percent worldwide, which neared 1,269,000 deaths and passed 51.2 million cases Monday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate is 2.9 percent compared with Broward at 1.7 percent and Miami-Dade with 1.9 percent. With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.6 percent in St. Lucie, 3.1 in Martin, 3.0 percent (-0.1) in Indian River and Okeechobee 2.4 percent (-0.1 and highest ever).
Florida has 800 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 738 per million. New York, which represents 14.1 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,740 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 162.8 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 didn't change.
Ninety-nine people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus with no change.
A total of 5,478 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 15 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 – 27 percent age 55 and older and 6 percent 75 and older.
At the other end of the age spectrum, there are 14,092 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 48, and 332 were hospitalized, which didn't change. From ages 5-14, there are 37,779, an increase of 204, with 309 in the hospital at one time, which went up by 1.
From the infant to 54 age group, there are 603,574 of the 836,370 residents' cases. In that group, 1,134 have died, with an increase of 6, for a 0.19 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 712,130 cases. A total of 3,030 have died, with 13 more, for a 0.43 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 13,290 with an increase of 90. Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, increased by 53 to 8,948, followed by Boca Raton at 8,494 up from 8,448, Boynton Beach went to 4,931 from 4,888 and Delray Beach at 3,797 vs. 3,771. A total of 1,789 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 5,652, an increase of 22, followed by Fort Pierce at 3,186, up 16, and Stuart with 2,574, which rose by 7.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, decreased by 1 to 442 in a revision of data compared with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 50,591 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 49,485 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 4,278 in Palm Beach County, with an increase of 30 compared with 1 the day before. Martin rose by 2 to 430, St. Lucie by 1 to 812, Indian River remained at 368 and Okeechobee stayed at 196.
Long-term care
Forty percent of the deaths, 6,893 are residents and staff of long-term care, including 727 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 852 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 20 and Palm Beach County rose by 1.
Nation
Since the first death was reported on Feb. 29, the national toll has risen to 238,202, a rise ofa world-high 632 Monday, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers.info has tabulated 244,448 deaths with an increase of 641.
Cases rose to 10,107,568, a rise of 139,413, behind the world record four days ago of 141,769 (a figure that later was adjusted from 127,399) according to Johns Hopkins. COVID Tracking Project lists the case increase as 118,708 two days after a record 128,396. Worldometers.info has it at as 125,689 two days after a record 132,540.
Last Monday in the U.S., there were 491 more deaths and 81,808 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 6,712 at 2.9 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 33,705 with Johns Hopkins reporting 11 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 Illinois 25, No. 7 Massachusetts 14, No. 8 Pennsylvania 6, No. 9 Georgia 29 and No. 10 Michigan 32.
Also, No. 11 Arizona reported no deaths. as well as an additional 435 cases. No. 25 Washington, the original epicenter in the U.S., reported 24 more deaths.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 9.5 percent of 6,770 deaths Monday, three days after a record 9,082, and 19.3 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.
The one week world death increase was 55,755 at 4.6 percent.
Last Monday's death increase was 5,724.
Cases increased 482,114 three days after a record 623,311 and passing 500,00 for the first time Oct. 28 and 400,000 for the first time on Oct. 15.
Brazil has been trending down in deaths and cases. The nation, which is second behind the United States for deaths, reported 241 deaths to rise to 162,638. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 11,651 cases at 5,675,766 in third place.
India reported 45,903 new cases compared with a world-record 97,894 in September, for second-place behind the U.S., with 8,553,657. Also, India recorded 490 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to 126,611 and in third place.
Mexico announced 198 more deaths late Monday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 95,225in fourth place.
In Europe, coronavirus is surging at record cases levels and deaths that are the highest since the spring with nations instituting lockdowns. The continent reported 3,134 deaths and 296,656 cases.
Four European nations are in the top 10. The United Kingdom reported 194 deaths, as well as 21,350 cases after a record 26,684 in late October. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter and reached 919 deaths in one day, reported 356 and a record 25,271 cases one day after a record 39,811. No. 7 France announced 548 deaths, two days after 828, as well as 20,155 cases two days after a record 86,852. No. 8 Spain reported 170 deaths and 18,340 cases, behind a record 22,516 Friday.
No. 9 Iran reported 458 deaths, one less than the record one day ago, and a record 10,453 cases. No. 10 Peru added 64 deaths.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,796,132, including a record 21,798. The nation gained 256 in 13th.
No. 22 Canada reported 42 deaths for a total of 10,564 and 4,622 cases, six days after a record 4,672.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity" with no lockdown, reported no data over since Friday and is at 6,022 deaths. Neighboring Norway reported no deaths for the third day in a row to remain at 285, as well as 593 more cases.
No. 35 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, added 22 cases Tuesday. The country recently was passed by Czechia.
