WEST PALM BEACH — Florida's new coronavirus cases skyrocketed to 10,105, the most in nearly four months, as deaths rose by 29, which was 15 less than the day before. And with a record-high 146,093 tests reported from labs Saturday, the state's first-time daily positivity rate decreased from 9.9 percent to 7.57 and Palm Beach County from 10.01 percent to 6.97, the Florida Health Department announced Sunday afternoon.
The state considers anything 5 percent and above a "danger" threshold. Tests spiked after going under 50,000 for only the second in time in two weeks as sites were closed last weekend and thereafter because of the Topical Storm Eta and Veterans Day on Wednesday.
Cases have been trending up in the state but Sunday's figure was the most since 12,199 on July 25. The record is 15,200, also in July.
On Saturday the number was 4,544. Friday's 6,933 was the highest since 8,109 on Aug. 12. Last Sunday, they rose by 6,820.
On Monday the cases were 3,924 after infections had exceeded 4,000 for 12 of the past 13 days. Before that date, the previous time they were under 4,000 was Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2,331 and the lowest since 2,144 on Oct. 21.
On Monday, 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.
Although infections in Florida are trending upward like in most other states in the nation, new cases had been exponentially lower than its U.S. daily high of 15,300 in July that was surpassed Friday by Illinois with 15,415.
Despite a surge in cases, deaths have been trending down in Florida with 25 days since it was in triple digits: 105 on Oct. 21. They previously were the last highest 141 on Thursday, Oct. 15. The record was 276 deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Saturday's increase was 44 and last Sunday's was 21, which was the lowest since 20 on Monday, Oct. 26. Two Sunday ago, they rose by 12, which was the least since 5 on Sept. 23.
Palm Beach County remained at 1,622 deaths, which is second to Miami-Dade and ahead of Broward after an increase of 2 Saturday.
St. Lucie rose by 2 to 350, as Martin remained at 170 and Indian River at 126 for one week. Okeechobee stayed at 43 with its first two fatalities on July 25
Broward rose by 6 and Miami-Dade by 2.
With a net increase of 10 deaths in South Florida of the 29 state total, there are 7,611, which is 43.4 percent of the state figure though the population only comprises 30 percent.
The number of deaths over one week is 397, an average of 57 compared with 431 the previous week.
In one week cases have risen by 41,304 for an average of 5,901 at 4.9 percent. The previous week the increase was 37,927 with an average of 5,418. The average since the first case, which was 259 days ago, is 3418 per day.
Florida's total of 885,201 cases is 8.0 percent of the total infections in the U.S., which passed 11 million Sunday and 10 million Monday, though the state only comprises 6.5 percent of the population.
Palm Beach County's daily cases increased by 735 one day after 300. 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 254 days, the death toll has reached 17,518 for an average of 69 per day. Florida's total including nonresidents is 17,734, which increased by 1 to 216.
It took 19 days for the toll to pass from 16,000 to 17,100 on Nov. 7. 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. On 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: 58 on Oct. 17.
The state report Sunday identified 31 deaths with 2 previously reported cases deleted as a fatality for a net increase of 29.
Florida's new hospitalizations rose by 87 compared with 271 the day before. The state reported Sunday there are currently 3,118 hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, which was 34 less in one day.
Deaths
Since June 16, Florida has climbed seven spots from 11th place in the nation to fourth. And the state is 13th in deaths per million.
Texas is in second place with no data reported Sunday after a state-record 324 on Aug. 11, for a total of 19,470. California reported 35 for third place with 18,253. New Jersey, which had been second throughout the pandemic, is in fifth place with 16,566, adding 18 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 13 deaths over seven days for 0.8 percent with an average of 46 per week since the first death. The U.S. figure is 3.2 percent with the world at 4.9 percent.
Miami-Dade rose to 3,709 with 26 more in seven days and 106 average since the first death. Broward is at 1,591 with the increase of 33 in a week and average of 45 since the first fatality. St. Lucie has gone up by 9 deaths compared with Martin by 1, Indian River zero and Okeechobee by 1.
Palm Beach County's death count is higher than 19 states, including Oklahoma's 1,528 with 12 reported Sunday.
Fourth Hillsborough remained at 857 as Pinellas increased by 1 to 854 in fifth place, Polk stayed at 648 in sixth, Orange increased by 1 to 604 in seventh and Lee remained at 542 in eighth.
The state report Sunday identified 2 women's deaths in St. Lucie (81, 82).
Cases
Since the first two cases were announced eight months ago on March 1, Florida's total has surged to 4.1 percent of the state's 21.48 million population with 885,201, third in the nation and 15th in cases per million.
Texas reported 6,390 cases and is at 1,020,721, according to the state website. California is closed behind at 1,019,348 with an additional U.S.-high 10,968. New York, which was the leader during much of the pandemic, is in fifth at 560,200 with an increase of 3,649.
Twenty-two states reported at least 2,000 cases, including No. 4 Illinois with 10,632 two days after a U.S. record 15,415 and a total of 573,616.
No records were set. States with No. 10 Ohio with 7,853, No. 17 Minnesota with 7,553, No. 15 Indiana with 6,710, No. 7 Wisconsin with 6,058, No. 9 Tennessee with 5,817, No. 14 Pennsylvania with 4,647, No. 25 Colorado with 4,183, No. 11 New Jersey with 4,058, No. 26 Oklahoma with 3,923, No. 23 Iowa with 3,839, No. 8 North Carolina with 3,117, No. 16 Missouri with 3,084.
No. 12 Michigan was among five states not reporting.
Miami-Dade's cases of 2,585 compared with 1,187 the day before and Broward's increase was 443 vs. 354. In the Treasure Coast area, the rise over one day was Martin 23 vs. 21, St. Lucie 58vs. 44, Indian River 49 vs. 30 and Okeechobee 11 vs. 5.
Testing
The state is no longer listing a running total of Floridians tested or total tests. Worldometers.info lists Florida with 11,022,168 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 reported by labs Saturday was the 10th time in 14 days in was 8 percent of below. The rate one day ago the highest since 10.29 on Aug. 10 and ended three days under 8 percent. The rate fiver days ago of 8.32 was highest since 9.65 on Aug. 12. The two-week low was 6.26 percent on Nov. 4.
Palm Beach County's percentage was the fourth time in two weeks it was under 7 percent, including a low of 4.62 on Nov. 5. The rate the day before was highest since 10.2 percent on Aug. 4. 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 declined to 9.21 percent from 11.4 percent on 49,609 tests, which is the highest rate since 12.11 on Aug. 16 on 34,423 tests. The last time it was 10 percent or more was 10.33 on Aug. 31. The two-week low was 7.35 percent on Nov. 4. Only 20,987 tests were reported Sept. 27 and the record previous test total record was 142,964 July 11.
Miami-Dade's rate decreased to 8.66 froma two-week high of 9.57 and a two-week low of 5.72 four days ago. The rate hit 26.4 on July 8. Broward's rate was 8.03 percent one day after 8.62, a two-week high of 8.88 two days ago and a two-week low of 5.76 on Nov. 1.
Elsewhere, St. Lucie's rate was 4.85 percent one day after 8.56, a two-week high of 9.12 six days ago and a 14-day low of 3.04 seven days ago. Martin's rate was 4.18 percent one day after a two-week high of 7.24 and a two-week low of 2.49 Nov. 5. Indian River's rate was 7.07 percent one day after 9.15, a two-week high of 10.0 six days ago and a two-week low of 4.34 on Nov. 7. Okeechobee's rate was 3.78 percent on 280 negative tests one day after 17.02 percent on 39 negative tests, a two-week high of 19.72 on 57 negative tests on Nov. 6 and zero percent on 31 negative tests Nov. 1.
Mortality rate
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 2.3 percent in the United States and 2.4 percent worldwide, which passed 1,324,000 deaths and passed 54.8 million cases Sunday, according to Worldometers.info.
Palm Beach County's rate is 2.8 percent compared with Broward at 1.7 percent and Miami-Dade with 1.8 percent (-0.1 in one day). With much fewer deaths, the mortality rate is 3.6 percent in St. Lucie, 3.0 in Martin, 2.9 percent in Indian River and Okeechobee 2.3 percent.
Florida has 816 deaths per 1 million people compared with the U.S. average of 761 per million. New York, which represents 13.9 percent of the deaths in the nation, has 1,748 per million. Worldwide, the figure is 169.9 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.
A total of 102 people from 25 to 34 also have died from the virus with an increase of 1.
A total of 5,575 people 85 and older have died in the state from the virus, an increase of 9 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 14,660 cases of infants to 4 years old, an increase of 110, and 340 were hospitalized, which didn't change. From ages 5-14, there are 39,931, an increase of 612, with 313 in the hospital at one time, which went up by 1.
From the infant to 54 age group, there are 622,646 of the 862,990 residents' cases. In that group, 1,157 have died, with no increase, for a 0.18 death percentage. From infant to 64, there are 734,667 cases. A total of 3,084 have died, with 1 more, for a 0.42 percentage.
Cities
West Palm Beach is in first place among Palm Beach County cities with 10,805 with an increase of 161; Lake Worth, which includes the city and county portion, increased by 89 to 9,236 followed by Boca Raton at 8,932 up from 8,801, Boynton Beach went to 5,168 from 5,100 and Delray Beach at 4,000 vs. 3,954. A total of 1,953 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 5,8394, an increase of 45, followed by Fort Pierce at 3,247, up 7, and Stuart with 2,623, which rose by 11.
In Indian River County, Fellsmere, which has a population of 5,754, increased by 2 to 453 with only 3 on May 31.
Hospitalizations
A total of 51,900 people in the state have been hospitalized, a rise from 50,489 seven days ago. That means it is a running total and includes people who have been released or died.
The number is 4,344 in Palm Beach County, with 5 more compared with 23 the day before. Martin remained at 1 to 437, St. Lucie rose by 1 to 846, Indian River stayed at 388 and Okeechobee was still at 200.
Long-term care
Forty percent of the deaths, 7,002 are residents and staff of long-term care, including 733 in Palm Beach County, which is second most in the state behind 856 in Miami-Dade. The state increase was 9 and Palm Beach County didn't change.
Nation
Since the first death was reported on Feb. 29, the national toll has risen to 246,206, a rise of 608 Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins. Worldometers.info has tabulated 251,836 deaths with an increase of 583. And the Covid Project has recorded 237,536 with an increase of 583.
Cases rose to 11,035,922, a rise of 132,032, less than the record 184,514 Friday, according to Johns Hopkins. COVID Tracking Project lists the case increase as 138,109, two days after a record 170,333. Worldometers.info has it at as 138,3731, behind a record 183,527 two days ago.
Last Sunday in the U.S., there were 473 more deaths and 109,780 cases.
The one week U.S. death increase was 7,715 at 3.2 percent.
New York has the most deaths in the nation at 34,032 with Johns Hopkins reporting 22 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 a U.S.-high 72, No. 7 Massachusetts 36, No. 8 Pennsylvania 32, No. 9 Georgia 11 and No. 10 Michigan no data.
Also, No. 11 Arizona added 2 deaths. Washington, the original epicenter in the U.S., added 1 Sunday but dropped to 27th behind Colorado, which gained 21.
Worldwide
The U.S. represented 8.8 percent of 6,682 deaths Sunday, four two days after a record 10,156 and 19.0 percent of the world total though its population is only 4.3 percent of the global total.
The one week world death increase was 61,284 at 4.9 percent.
Last Sunday's death increase was 6,114.
Cases increased 491,445 two days after a record 656,180 with 500,00 passing for the first time Oct. 28 and 400,000 for the first time on Oct. 15.
Brazil, which is second behind the United States for deaths, reported 138 to rise to 165,811. Brazil's record is 1,554 on July 29. The nation added 14,134 cases and is at 5,863,093 in third place.
India reported 41,100 new cases compared with a world-record 97,894 in September for second-place behind the U.S., with 8,814,579. Also, India recorded 447 deaths, behind a national-record 1,299, to rise to 129,635 and in third place.
Mexico announced 283 more deaths late Sunday compared with a high of 1,092 on June 4 for a total of 98,542 in 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 2,958 deaths and 212,295 cases.
Four European nations are in the top 10. The United Kingdom reported 168 deaths, as well 24,962 cases three days after a record 33,470. No. 6 Italy, which at one time was the world's epicenter and reached 919 deaths in one day, reported 546 and 33,979 cases two days after record 40,902 cases. No. 7 France announced 302 deaths, two days after 932 deaths that was the most since a record of 1,437 in April, as well as 27,228 cases after a record 86,852 on Oct. 31. No. 9 Spain reported no data after Friday's 308 deaths and 21,371 cases, behind a record 22,516 Nov. 7.
Iran reported 459 deaths, two day after a record-tying 462 to move past Spain into eighth,and 12,543 cases, four days after a record 11,780. Argentina reported 129 deaths and is in 10th.
Russia is in fourth place in the world in cases with 1,925,825, including 22,572 one day after a record 22,702. The nation gained 352 deaths two days after a record 411 in 13th.
No. 22 Canada reported 62 deaths for a total of 10,953 and 4,146 cases three days after a record 5,516.
Sweden, which has been doing "herd immunity" with no lockdown, reported no data over the weekend and is at 6,164, and lately hasn't reported cases information. Neighboring Norway reported no deaths for the second day in a row to remain 294, as well as 532 more cases.
No. 35 China, the original epicenter of the world, hasn’t reported a death since April 26, added 8 cases Monday.