Florida Department of Health
September 1, 2020
Florida Department of Health Issues Daily Update on COVID-19
~Daily Report Contains Delayed Reporting Data from Quest Diagnostics~
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Department of Health (DOH), in order to provide more comprehensive data, releases a report on COVID-19 cases in Florida once per day. Today’s daily report includes a one-time historical data submission from Quest Diagnostics Lab. The nearly 75,000 results date back to April and have little impact on the state of the pandemic today.
Today, data reported to DOH shows there has been a steady decline in the number of reported Florida resident deaths who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19. The third week of July compared to the third week of August, shows a nearly 70 percent decrease in the average number of reported COVID-19 related deaths.
Today, Florida had the twentieth straight day below 10 percent positivity of new cases.
Today, as reported at 11 a.m., there are 7,569 new positive COVID-19 cases, out of those, 3,870 were results older two weeks, some dating back to April, per a delay in reporting from Quest Diagnostic Labs. Today, as reported at 11 a.m., there are 187 reported deaths – 4 occurred yesterday, August 31. As posted on the Agency for Health Care Administration’s hospitalization dashboard at 2:45 p.m., there are 3,624 current hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19.
Test results for more than 127,900 individuals were reported to DOH as of midnight, on Monday, August 31. On August 31, 6.81 percent of new cases** tested positive. This new case positivity rate includes a one-time historical data submission from Quest Diagnostics Labs, the percent positivity excluding the large data submission was 5.89 percent.
To date, there are a total of 631,040 Florida cases*** with 11,374 deaths related to COVID-19.
Since August 31, the death of one hundred eighty-seven Florida residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have been reported in Baker, Bay, Broward, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Columbia, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Gulf, Hernando, Indian River, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Nassau, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Taylor and Volusia counties.
Editor’s Note: There is one area death due to Coronavirus and not two as previously reported. We apologize. According to Nassau County Emergency Management, “We are saddened to have to announce another CoViD-19-related death in Nassau County. The patient was an 82-year-old female. Our deepest sympathies go out to her family and loved ones.
Note that although most people who have serious complications from Novel SARS-CoV-2 infection do have other contributing factors (such as being older than 65 years, being overweight, having asthma, having Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, any organ diseases, or taking medications like steroidal anti-inflammatory agents) a recent University study showed that those who have died with CoViD-19 did so an average of ten years before they otherwise would have been expected to pass away.
Please do your part to protect the vulnerable members of our community – they might be your friends, loved ones, or family members. Wash your hands often, stay home when sick, cover all coughs/sneezes, and avoid close contact with anyone with whom you don’t live.
Good news. If you are reasonably healthy you have virtually nothing to worry about from covID.