Florida COVID update: 27,584 new cases, single-day record, 8 deaths added
Florida on Friday reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that 27,584 COVID-19 cases were added Thursday, a record, according to Miami Herald calculations of CDC data.
The state also reported eight new deaths Thursday. In all, Florida has recorded at least 3,179,493 confirmed COVID cases statewide and 43,640 deaths.
In the last seven days, on average, the state has added 243 deaths and 26,496 cases each day, according to Herald calculations. Florida’s average daily death counts are the highest they’ve been during the entire pandemic.
The Thursday case counts broke the state’s single-day case record. On Aug. 24, Tuesday, 26,385 cases were added on a single day, according to Herald calculations of data provided by the CDC.
Over the last week, from Aug. 20 to Aug. 26, Florida’s resident virus totals increased by 151,760 cases and 1,737 deaths, according to the Florida Department of Health’s weekly report, released on Friday.
Newly reported weekly death totals have continued to climb in every report since mid-June, according to Herald calculations of state data. The state previously saw 1,476 deaths from Aug. 13 to Aug. 19.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREThe Herald publishes the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after each update by the agency.
On Aug. 10, the Florida Department of Health changed the way it reported new cases and deaths to the CDC. Cases and deaths used to be logged as total new cases reported on a single day. Now, Florida is reporting cases by the “case date,” according to the CDC, rather than the date the case was logged into the system. The result of this change is a lag in cases by date and a number of cases back-filling over time.
The Herald will continue to report the difference in total cases and deaths from one day to the next in stories about daily new cases and deaths, as this is consistent with the way data have been presented in daily stories since the beginning of the pandemic.
More information
The Herald is calculating new cases using the difference between cumulative total of cases and the total from the previous day, as pulled daily from the CDC trends data. New deaths are calculated the same way.
As a result, the “new cases” and “new deaths” listed on the CDC site for any given day may be different than numbers published by the Herald for the same day.
According to a statement from CDC spokesperson Jasmine Reed on Aug. 18: “Florida’s aggregate case and death data includes case date for cases and date of death for deaths. The method applies data shared by Florida and to data displayed on COVID Data Tracker. Other States also use this reporting method and states can vary in the reporting method. For example, data as of the date that states submit may be the date that a state received its data from its reporting entities, or it might be another dating method that the state prefers.”
DOH spokesperson Weesam Khoury said Florida’s new reporting system “will ensure that continuous epidemiological analyses provide the most updated data to the public.” Neither agency provided further explanation of how a “case date” is assigned to each new case.
COVID-19 vaccine rates in Florida
More than 10.7 million Floridians have completed the two-dose series of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, or have received Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, according to Florida’s weekly report.
Another 2.1 million have completed their first vaccine dosage of Pfizer or Moderna, bringing the total number of Floridians who have been fully or partially vaccinated to around 12.9 million, or 68% of Floridians who are 12 and older.
COVID-19 IN FLORIDA
Here’s a breakdown of how many new COVID-19 cases were reported this past week in South Florida and Manatee County, according to state data.
▪ Miami-Dade County reported 16,621 new resident cases in the week ending Aug. 26, according to Herald calculations of state data.
The county has recorded at least 627,423 confirmed cases and 6,472 deaths.
In Miami-Dade, 2,177,331 people, or about 86% of eligible residents, have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the state reported.
▪ Broward County reported 11,655 new resident cases in the week ending Aug. 26, according to Herald calculations of state data.
The county has recorded at least 323,839 confirmed cases and 3,079 deaths.
In Broward, 1,301,020 people, or about 77% of eligible residents, have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the state reported.
▪ Palm Beach County reported 8,608 new resident cases in the week ending Aug. 26, according to Herald calculations of state data.
The county has recorded at least 200,427 confirmed cases and 2,883 deaths.
In Palm Beach, 918,715 people, or about 71% of eligible residents, have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the state reported.
▪ Monroe County reported 376 new resident cases in the week ending Aug. 26, according to Herald calculations of state data.
The county has recorded at least 9,519 confirmed cases and 52 deaths.
In Monroe, 52,347 people, or about 76% of eligible residents, have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the state reported.
▪ Manatee County reported 3,483 new resident cases in the week ending Aug. 16, according to Herald calculations of state data.
The county has recorded at least 55,494 confirmed cases and 689 deaths.
In Manatee, 229,057 people, or about 64% of eligible residents, have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the state reported.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida
There were 16,457 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida on Friday, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services from 258 Florida hospitals. That is 376 fewer patients than Thursday’s COVID patient population.
COVID-19 patients also accounted for 28.17% of all hospital patients.
Of the hospitalized in Florida, 3,608 people were in intensive care unit beds, a decrease of 80. That represents 54.22% of the state’s ICU hospital beds from 258 hospitals reporting data.
Friday’s Miami-Dade County report said there were 1,639 COVID patients in the county’s hospitals on Thursday, a decrease of 53 from the previous day’s report. Of the 144 new COVID patients, 117 (81.25%) had not been vaccinated.
Broward County’s Friday report said there were 1,548 COVID patients in the county’s hospitals, a decrease of 57 from yesterday’s patient population.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Florida COVID update: 27,584 new cases, single-day record, 8 deaths added."
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