Florida nearing 1,000 COVID-19 deaths; high rate of death at long-term care facilities
Florida neared 1,000 deaths and surpassed 28,500 novel coronavirus cases as Florida’s Department of Health confirmed 707 more cases and 60 new deaths since Tuesday evening.
As of Wednesday evening, Florida totaled 28,576 cases and the death toll reached 927, a 7 percent jump over Tuesday night’s death toll. Health officials reported 267 additional cases of COVID-19 and 34 new deaths were reported since Wednesday morning.
Of the 60 new deaths, 44 were in South Florida.
Twenty-one people between the ages of 48 and 96 died in Broward, raising the county’s death toll to 147.
In Miami-Dade, 19 people between the ages of 55 and 89 died, raising the county’s death toll to 252, the highest in the state.
Palm Beach County had four people die between the ages of 42 and 92.
The 16 other deaths were in Citrus, Clay, Collier, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Leon, Orange, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole and Sumter counties.
Health officials reported that 248 people have died of the 2,333 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state’s long-term care facilities, including nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. That’s an 11 percent death rate among the long-term care facilities, compared with a 3 percent death rate in the state overall.
Of the new confirmed cases, 248 are Florida residents and 19 are non-residents who were diagnosed or isolated in the state. Of the total statewide cases, 27,791 are Florida residents and 785 are non-residents.
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade became the first county in Florida to surpass 10,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and exceed 1,000 hospitalizations.
Despite the daily reports of additional confirmed cases and deaths, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that the state’s coronavirus curve had flattened.
The governor is also expecting to receive a list of recommendations Friday from the Re-Open Florida Task Force, which had its first meeting Monday on how the state can reopen.
But health experts are concerned the statewide total of confirmed cases is significantly undercounted because Florida reports only the number of Floridians waiting to hear test results from state labs, not private ones — and private labs are completing more than 90% of state tests.
The results of thousands of pending tests from private labs have taken as long as two weeks to be added to the state’s official count. The state’s website does not say its figures exclude the vast majority of pending tests for the novel coronavirus.
Health officials say the state has had 4,455 hospitalizations relating to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
The statewide and county-level data for COVID-19 hospitalizations includes anyone who was hospitalized during their illness and “does not reflect the number of people currently hospitalized,” according to Florida’s Department of Health.
The state says it does not “have a figure” to reflect current hospitalization data.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Florida
As of Wednesday evening, here’s what Florida’s Department of Health data showed:
Miami-Dade County had 136 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county total to 10,289 confirmed cases. Miami-Dade was ranked 15th highest county in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, which is tracking each county in the country.
Of those cases, 10,170 are residents, 119 are non-residents and one is a resident who is not in Florida. Those who have fallen ill range from 0 to 103. (A person who is listed as age zero means they are less than 1.) The county has had 1,107 hospitalizations and 252 deaths, Florida’s highest death toll.
Broward County reported 26 additional confirmed cases, raising the county total of confirmed cases to 4,254. Health officials say 4,130 are residents and 124 are non-residents. Those who have fallen ill range from 0 to 102. The county has had 784 hospitalizations and 147 deaths.
Palm Beach County had 10 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county total to 2,413. Health officials say 2,358 are residents, 55 are non-residents and two are residents who are not in Florida. Those who have fallen ill range from 0 to 104. The county has had 379 hospitalizations and 135 deaths.
Monroe County did not report any additional confirmed cases of the disease. The county has 73 known cases of COVID-19. Eight of them are non-residents. Those who have fallen ill range from age 6 to 80. The Florida Keys have had three deaths and 11 hospitalizations.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Florida nearing 1,000 COVID-19 deaths; high rate of death at long-term care facilities."
