FL Reports Daily Positivity Rate Under 10 Percent For 10 Days

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida health officials reported 4,311 new cases of the coronavirus Saturday as officials announced the 10th day where the daily positivity rate was under 10 percent though the rate was much higher in parts of the state.

Health officials said the state had also reached a new daily low case positivity rate of 4.89 percent.

"This percentage is the number of people who test positive for the first time divided by all tests, excluding people who have previously tested positive, according to health officials.

Despite the apparent decline in people testing positive for the first time, Florida's overall positivity rate was at 13.6 percent Saturday based on 4,408,611 total tests.

The total number of deaths in Florida rose to 10,274 Saturday from 10,168 a day earlier. Florida's most recent one-day record of 276 reported deaths was set on Aug. 11. Health officials reported another 137 deaths involving non-Florida residents who died in Florida.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida rose to 597,597 Saturday from 593,286 a day earlier.

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Twenty-three of Florida's 67 counties reported 106 new deaths on Saturday. That compares with 122 new deaths on Friday (health officials reported 119), 118 new deaths Thursday (health officials reported 117), 174 new deaths Wednesday, 219 new deaths Tuesday, 87 new deaths Monday (health officials reported 89 deaths), 107 new deaths Sunday and 205 new deaths Saturday (state health officials reported 204).

Here's a breakdown of the counties reporting new deaths:

• Miami-Dade County reported 19 new deaths.
• Broward County reported 20 new deaths.
• Marion County reported 13 new deaths.
• Palm Beach County reported 11 new deaths.
• Indian River County reported six new deaths.
• Jackson County reported five new deaths.
• Polk County reported five new deaths.
• Pinellas County reported four new deaths.
• Orange County reported three new deaths.
• Bay County reported two new deaths.
• Lake County reported two new deaths.
• Osceola County reported two new deaths.
• St. Lucie County reported two new deaths.
• Volusia County reported two new deaths.
• Walton County reported two new deaths.
• Brevard County reported one new death.
• Collier County reported one new death.
• Gulf County reported one new death.
• Lee County reported one new death.
• Okaloosa County reported one new death.
• Okeechobee County reported one new death.
• Santa Rosa County reported one new death.
• Seminole County reported one new death.

The state reported 36,329 hospitalizations up from 35,650 hospitalizations a day earlier. That represents an increase of 679 new hospitalizations over the previous day, which is among the highest increases since the pandemic began.

State health officials reported a total of 4,773 current hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 as of Saturday, down from 4,942 current hospitalizations a day earlier.

In an effort to provide as much information to our readers as possible, Patch has been publishing a daily county-by-county breakdown of the coronavirus cases in Florida's 67 counties, along with the median age of patients, the number of hospital cases by county and the number of deaths.

Miami-Dade, which includes Miami and Miami Beach, reported 151,214 cases of the virus as of Saturday. Nearby Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, reported 68,891 cases. Palm Beach County, which includes Palm Beach, West Palm and Boca Raton, reported 40,387cases.

Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa, reported 35,574cases. Orange County, which includes Orlando, reported 34,538 cases.

Patch updates this chart once each day based on data provided by the Florida Department of Health. The counties that reported new deaths Saturday are shown in bold.

Here is the most recent data available: