coronavirus

Florida Adds Over 4,800 COVID-19 Cases Sunday, 28 Additional Virus-Related Deaths

28 additional virus-related deaths were confirmed in the state

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Florida added more than 4,800 new COVID-19 cases to its state tally Sunday, along with 28 additional virus-related deaths.

The 4,865 new COVID-19 cases brought Florida's total to 807,412, according to the daily report from the state's department of health.

The relatively large daily increase of cases resulted from more tests being reported, as the share of Saturday’s results coming back positive actually decreased, compared to the previous day’s results.

16,789 state residents have now died from virus-related causes, as well as an additional 208 non-residents. Deaths may have occurred days or weeks ago, due to the time it takes to confirm whether they were COVID-related.

The positivity rate for all Florida cases in Sunday's report was 7.38%, slightly below the previous day's 7.95%. The positivity rate of new cases was 4.31%, two points below the previous rate of 6.31%.

Examined over seven days — which experts say gives a more accurate picture of trends in positivity — the new case positivity rate dropped to 5.4% after Saturday’s results were added.

When retesting of those who previously tested positive are included, the 7.4% rate for all 123,903 tests reported Saturday boosted that metric’s seven-day average to 7.1% — highest since September 10.

The increasing prevalence of the virus among those being tested was predicted by medical experts after Gov. Ron DeSantis loosened restrictions statewide on bars, restaurants and other places where crowds can gather in late September.

DeSantis also forbade local governments from penalizing people who refuse to wear masks and businesses that don’t abide by certain local restrictions.

Both Broward and Miami-Dade counties now have seven-day new case positivity rates above 5%. Miami-Dade, at 5.1%, continues to do better than Broward, with a 5.6% seven-day rate.

Miami-Dade had 186,809 cases Sunday, an increase of about 900 since Saturday, along with 3,662 COVID-related deaths, an increase of 15 since Saturday.

In Broward, there were 86,961 COVID-19 cases reported, a daily increase of about 730, along with 1,526 virus-related deaths.

Palm Beach County had 52,779 cases and 1,588 virus-related deaths Sunday, while Monroe County had 2,334 cases and 25 deaths.

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