Coronavirus in Florida – April 17th Update
Bottom Line: We had 821 new cases and 54 deaths in Florida attributed to the coronavirus on Thursday, providing another day of mixed news. Overall new diagnosed cases were lower but deaths were higher. There’s renewed emphasis on protecting nursing home and elder care facilities from the virus, as Florida Department of Health officials identified 20% of all COVID-19 deaths have come from those who contracted the virus in one of these facilities. Today Governor DeSantis is expected to formally announce his Task Force on reopening Florida’s economy. He stated the team will study agriculture, education, events, recreation, restaurants, small businesses and travel – implying the reopening of the state may come in sector specific stages.
Overall hospitalizations are now at their highest levels in Florida, with 3,458 COVID - 19 patients currently being served. That’s an increase of greater 200 again yesterday for the third state day. Florida remained 8th in the country in total cases and 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 (regardless of misleading local news reporting). 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:
- 23,340 cases – 668 deaths
Here’s the count in South Florida right now...
- Broward: 3,466
- Miami-Dade: 8,326
- Palm Beach: 1,867
We continue to see a high rate of positive test results in Florida but the news improved on Thursday. To date 10% of all tests for COVID - 19 have come back positive. That’s a decline from 11%, meaning those most recently tested are less likely to test positive for the virus, perhaps indicating a potential turning of the corner in community spread of the virus across the state. 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.