Coronavirus in Florida – April 15th Update
Bottom Line: We had 609 new cases and 72 deaths in Florida attributed to the coronavirus on Tuesday. While it proved to be the deadliest day thus far in our state, the news regarding new cases was significantly better. New diagnosed cases were nearly half of the prior day’s total and the smallest number within 24 hours in Florida since March 24th. With the potential for ongoing improvement, and the increased likelihood that April 3rd was the peak for new cases in Florida, Governor DeSantis announced a task force on reopening Florida's economy and schools will be created as early as this week. Also, Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz said the supply chain of needed supplies had significantly improved with only N95 masks still proving to be a challenge to procure.
Overall hospitalizations are now at their highest levels in Florida, with 3,050 COVID-19 patients currently being served. That’s an increase of greater 200 from yesterday. Florida remained 8th in the country in total cases and moved up to 10th in deaths. Florida’s the third most populous state. We’re performing far better than most states on a relative basis. We’re also testing more aggressively than most states, adjusted for population, making the performance of our state even more impressive. The range in age for positive tests in our state ranges from infants to 104. More than half of all of Florida’s cases currently are in the tri-county area with Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach having the most cases in the state in that order.
Here’s where we now stand in Florida:
- 21,628 cases – 571 deaths
Here’s the count in South Florida right now...
- Broward: 3,261
- Miami-Dade: 7,712
- Palm Beach: 1,740
We continue to see a high rate of positive test results in Florida. To date nearly 11% of all tests for COVID-19 have come back positive. The further into testing we go the more likely the newest diagnosed cases are new cases. This reinforces the importance of adhering to the warnings of public officials including social distancing and safer-at-home declarations. The highest concentration of cases is coming from those between the ages of 45-54.