What to Know
- Florida reported 7,686 new COVID-19 cases Friday and 180 new virus-related deaths
- Positivity rates went down to their lowest since June, with 8.34% of new tests coming back positive
- Miami-Dade and Broward have combined for more than 190,100 COVID-19 cases, about 37% of the state's total count
Florida’s COVID-related death toll increased by another 180 residents Friday, and hospitalizations increased by its second-largest number on record, as the state continues to suffer from the late-stage effects of the coronavirus wave that swept across the region last month.
A total of 7,927 Florida residents have now died from COVID-related causes, and an additional 124 non-residents have died in the state due to the disease, totaling 8,051 deaths. Reporting is delayed while the state confirms the deaths are COVID-related, so many deaths occurred days or even weeks earlier.
An additional 7,686 new coronavirus cases Friday brought the state's total to 518,075, according to figures released by Florida's Department of Health.
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The percentage of those tests coming back positive increased to 13.8% for all tests and 10.1%, when retests of those who previously tested positive are excluded from the count.
The all case and new case rates edged up by 2.2 and 1.8 percentage points, respectively, over Wednesday’s rates. Still, when seven days of results are examined, both rates continue to trend downward, to 13.5% for all tests and 9.9% or new cases.
In the state’s hardest hit county, Miami-Dade, the new case positivity rate over seven days has declined to 14.5% from 19.8% two weeks ago. Broward’s new case rate was 9.9% Thursday, under 10% for four of the last five days reported.
The median age of people who tested positive in Friday's results was 42, about the average age of cases for the past two weeks.
Statewide, more than 3,903,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 to-date.
In South Florida, Miami-Dade County's case total rose Friday by more than 1,730, to 129,409, and the county's virus-related deaths rose by 81, to 1,809.
In Broward County, there were 60,746 COVID-19 cases reported, a daily increase of about 680, along with 782 virus-related deaths.
Palm Beach County had 36,114 cases and 919 virus-related deaths Friday, while Monroe County had 1,456 cases and 13 deaths.
