Florida reported 2,124 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and increased its total death count by 887, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
The new deaths came over the past couple of weeks because deaths are counted on the day they occur, not the day they are reported. It can take two weeks or more for a death to be reflected in the data and state has been releasing the death counts twice a week.
The average for new cases is down to 3,052 as of Tuesday and the average for deaths based on the date reported was 240. There have been 3,611,767 confirmed cases of COVID in the state and at least 57,300 Floridians have died since the start of the pandemic.
Hospitalizations have been dropping since they peaked in mid-August. As of Tuesday, 3,307 patients were in Florida hospitals with COVID-19, a 27.5% decline from the previous week and the fewest patients since mid-July.
Here are the latest statistics:
The CDC on Tuesday updated its county-by county COVID numbers, which it has released weekly. South Florida counties have among the lowest cases per capita in the state, this week’s data shows. The statistics are for the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3.
Over the previous week:
Palm Beach County saw a 28% drop in cases and a 14% drop in deaths.
Broward County saw a 28% drop in cases and a 23% drop in deaths.
Miami-Dade County saw a 26% drop in cases and a 36% drop in deaths.
Orange County saw a 31% drop in cases and a 49% increase in deaths.
Florida continues to drop in rankings of cases per capita, falling to 47th as of Saturday, according to New York Times data. The data shows 17 COVID cases per 100,000 population in Florida. Alaska ranked first with 110 average cases per 100,000 as of Oct. 9.
After ranking first for several weeks among states in deaths per capita, Florida has dropped to 8th as of Saturday, the Times data shows, with 0.91 deaths per 100,000 residents. Idaho ranked first as of Oct. 9 with 1.71 deaths per 100,000.
Florida’s positivity rate has been declining since mid-August, a further indication the state may have passed the peak of the delta surge. The state releases positivity data weekly