Coronavirus: Florida reports 6,229 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday as U.S. passes 5 million

Healthcare workers gather information before conducting an antigen test, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, at a COVID-19 testing site outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Antigen testing reveals whether a person is currently infected with COVID-19. It differs from antibody testing because once the infection is gone, antigens won't be present. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) (Wilfredo Lee, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida reported 6,229 new coronavirus cases Sunday and 77 more resident’s deaths associated with COVID-19.

The state has now surpassed 8,000 resident deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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Florida is now up to 532,806 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 8,186 resident deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus since the start of the outbreak, according to the Florida Department of Health. At least 129 non-residents have also died from COVID-19 in Florida.

The new deaths announced Sunday include 27 in Miami-Dade County, 14 in Broward County and two in Palm Beach County. Monroe County did not report any additional fatalities.

A prominent projection released Thursday predicts that Florida’s death toll will double by the middle of October and surpass 19,000 by Dec. 1.

Last week, Florida set records for new resident deaths reported Tuesday (186), Wednesday (216), Thursday (253) and Friday (257). The fatalities announced on a given day are not necessarily all from the previous 24 hours.

Florida’s positivity rate from Thursday’s testing was at 10.12%, an increase from the 8.34% Wednesday that was the lowest in weeks. (See more in the “Positivity rates” section lower in this story.)

The daily case increases have been lower this week after more than 9,000 cases per day were announced at the end of last month, but that comes after a weekend when many testing sites were closed because of Tropical Storm Isaias.

The number of tests received by the state’s health department was notably lower earlier in the week before jumping back up. (While some test results can take up to two weeks to be processed, rapid test results can come back in less than an hour and priority-one tests come back within a day or two.)

A look at the number of COVID-19 tests received in Florida over recent days. (WPLG)

County-by-county

In the past day, Miami-Dade County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 1,244 to 132,461. The county has 1,865 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest total in the state.

Broward’s cases increased by 654 to 62,268. The county’s death toll is at 803.

Palm Beach County’s cases increased by 420 to 37,020, with the death toll now at 931.

Monroe County is now listed with 1,526 cases, a one-day increase of 12, with 13 deaths.

Florida has confirmed at least 30,505 coronavirus-related hospitalizations since the start of the outbreak.

Tracking the records

Florida’s most cases announced in a day: 15,300 on July 12

Florida’s most resident deaths announced in a day: 257 on July 31

Miami-Dade’s most cases announced in a day: 3,576 on July 12

Broward’s most cases announced in a day: 1,772 on July 12

Palm Beach’s most cases announced in a day: 1,171 on July 12

Monroe’s most cases announced in a day: 84 on July 24

Positivity rates

Statewide, Florida reports having completed over 3.9 million tests for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, with 13.3% coming back positive. The state says its target is to stay below 10% positivity.

Positivity statewide has been between 8% and 12% over the past week, with this week’s percentage lower than last week’s. (This percentage is the number of people who test positive for the first time divided by all the people tested that day, excluding people who have previously tested positive.)

A look at the percentage of COVID-19 tests that have come back positive in Florida over recent days. (WPLG)

The rate of positivity among people tested for COVID-19 across Florida topped out at over 18% for tests processed July 8.

Here’s a look at how those percentages have trended in Miami-Dade and Broward counties:

MIAMI-DADE

  • 6/13 – 3.0%
  • 6/14 – 8.9%
  • 6/15 – 9.0%
  • 6/16 – 12.8%
  • 6/17 – 11.2%
  • 6/18 – 11.1%
  • 6/19 – 11.7%
  • 6/20 – 13.3%
  • 6/21 – 8.9%
  • 6/22 – 18.1%
  • 6/23 – 19.6%
  • 6/24 – 10.2%
  • 6/25 – 14.2%
  • 6/26 – 14.0%
  • 6/27 – 17.7%
  • 6/28 – 18.5%
  • 6/29 – 17.7%
  • 6/30 – 18.2%
  • 7/1 – 19.5%
  • 7/2 – 20.9%
  • 7/3 – 18.9%
  • 7/4 – 20.5%
  • 7/5 – 19.9%
  • 7/6 – 20.9%
  • 7/7 – 21.9%
  • 7/8 – 26.3%
  • 7/9 – 20.3%
  • 7/10 – 21.5%
  • 7/11 – 16.6%
  • 7/12 – 20.3%
  • 7/13 – 22.2%
  • 7/14 – 20.0%
  • 7/15 – 18.6%
  • 7/16 – 18.3%
  • 7/17 – 17.5%
  • 7/18 – 20.6%
  • 7/19 – 22.7%
  • 7/20 – 19.3%
  • 7/21 – 16.7%
  • 7/22 – 18.6%
  • 7/23 – 19.8%
  • 7/24 – 19.7%
  • 7/25 – 18.1%
  • 7/26 – 18.2%
  • 7/27 – 17.5%
  • 7/28 – 16.3%
  • 7/29 – 17.8%
  • 7/30 – 14.9%
  • 7/31 – 16.2%
  • 8/1 – 15.3%
  • 8/2 – 12.5%
  • 8/3 – 13.7%
  • 8/4 – 15.5%
  • 8/5 – 12.8%
  • 8/6 – 14.5%
  • 8/7 – 13.4%
  • 8/8 – 12.1%

BROWARD

  • 6/13 – 2.7%
  • 6/14 – 5.1%
  • 6/15 – 7.6%
  • 6/16 – 9.8%
  • 6/17 – 7.3%
  • 6/18 – 8.9%
  • 6/19 – 9.7%
  • 6/20 – 9.6%
  • 6/21 – 6.1%
  • 6/22 – 10.2%
  • 6/23 – 10.7%
  • 6/24 – 6.4%
  • 6/25 – 11.4%
  • 6/26 – 10.2%
  • 6/27 – 10.4%
  • 6/28 – 12.0%
  • 6/29 – 13.5%
  • 6/30 – 14.7%
  • 7/1 – 13.5%
  • 7/2 – 16.2%
  • 7/3 – 14.0%
  • 7/4 – 16.3%
  • 7/5 – 15.9%
  • 7/6 – 12.9%
  • 7/7 – 14.0%
  • 7/8 – 22.5%
  • 7/9 – 14.9%
  • 7/10 – 15.8%
  • 7/11 – 13.4%
  • 7/12 – 13.8%
  • 7/13 – 16.0%
  • 7/14 – 14.8%
  • 7/15 – 16.6%
  • 7/16 – 14.3%
  • 7/17 – 13.7%
  • 7/18 – 12.6%
  • 7/19 – 17.6%
  • 7/20 – 15.1%
  • 7/21 – 12.3%
  • 7/22 – 14.1%
  • 7/23 – 15.7%
  • 7/24 – 12.9%
  • 7/25 – 12.2%
  • 7/26 – 13.2%
  • 7/27 – 10.8%
  • 7/28 – 12.7%
  • 7/29 – 13.8%
  • 7/30 – 10.8%
  • 7/31 – 12.8%
  • 8/1 – 12.0%
  • 8/2 – 8.3%
  • 8/3 – 10.4%
  • 8/4 – 8.8%
  • 8/5 – 8.3%
  • 8/6 – 9.7%
  • 8/7 – 9.7%
  • 8/8 – 8.7%

Hospitals and testing

Hospital leaders and medical workers on the front lines are closely watching bed space and some have had to increase their ICU capacity to treat patients.

The state tracks its hospital space by county and by facility, which can be seen here.

Rapid testing, with results available in 15 minutes, was added at the state testing sites at Hard Rock Stadium and Marlins Park. It’s available for people showing symptoms or in certain age groups.

Five new federally-funded testing sites have also recently opened in South Florida as increased demand for tests has led to longer lines and delays with getting results back.

The state has also added self-swab testing at some of its sites — including Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale — in an attempt to speed up the process.

Latest totals

The United States has passed 5 million confirmed cases, with over 162,000 deaths from COVID-19, the highest numbers in the world. Over 1.6 million Americans have been deemed recovered, according to data compiled from various sources by Johns Hopkins University.

Worldwide, the number of COVID-19 cases reported has surpassed 19.6 million. There have been more than 727,000 deaths worldwide attributed to the pandemic, with over 11.9 million being declared recovered.

Florida’s daily new cases have trended as follows:

  • Sunday: 6.229
  • Saturday: 8,502
  • Friday: 7,686
  • Thursday: 7,650
  • Wednesday: 5,409
  • Aug. 4: 5,446
  • Aug. 3: 4,752
  • Aug. 2: 7,104
  • Aug. 1: 9,642
  • July 31: 9,007
  • July 30: 9,956
  • July 29: 9,446
  • July 28: 9,230
  • July 27: 8,892
  • July 26: 9,344
  • July 25: 12,199
  • July 24: 12,444
  • July 23: 10,249
  • July 22: 9,785
  • July 21: 9,440
  • July 20: 10,347
  • July 19: 12,478
  • July 18: 10,328
  • July 17: 11,466
  • July 16: 13,965
  • July 15: 10,181
  • July 14: 9,194
  • July 13: 12,624
  • July 12: 15,300
  • July 11: 10,360
  • July 10: 11,433
  • July 9: 8,935
  • July 8: 9,989
  • July 7: 7,347
  • July 6: 6,336
  • July 5: 10,059
  • July 4: 11,458
  • July 3: 9,488
  • July 2: 10,109
  • July 1: 6,563
  • June 30: 6,093
  • June 29: 5,266
  • June 28: 8,530
  • June 27: 9,585
  • June 26: 8,942
  • June 25: 5,004
  • June 24: 5,511
  • June 23: 3,289
  • June 22: 2,926
  • June 21: 3,494
  • June 20: 4,049
  • June 19: 3,822
  • June 18: 3,207
  • June 17: 2,610
  • June 16: 2,783
  • June 15: 1,758
  • June 14: 2,016
  • June 13: 2,581
  • June 12: 1,902
  • June 11: 1,698
  • June 10: 1,371
  • June 9: 1,096

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About the Authors:

David Dwork joined the WPLG Local 10 News team in August 2019. Born and raised in Miami-Dade County, David has covered South Florida sports since 2007.