Florida Coronavirus Deaths Hit Record 276 In 1 Day, New Cases Drop By 38%

KEY POINTS

Florida reported 276 in one day Tuesday, the highest daily death toll to date for the state
It also reported a test posivitity rate of 10.3%, up from 8.6% just last week
Florida saw a 38% drop in new cases, but lack of testing during Hurricane Isaias the likely cause

Deaths due to COVID-19 are on the rise in Florida, which reported a single-day record of 276 Tuesday and saw its test positivity rate reach double digits.

The Florida Department of Health said Tuesday's fatality toll was the highest number of deaths in a single day since the pandemic began in January. Florida previously reported a single-day high death toll of 257 deaths on July 31, based on Johns Hopkins University data.

Florida's positivity rate rose to 10.3%, indicating a continuing community spread of COVID-19. The positivity rate (or the percent of positive COVID-19 tests) stood at 8.6% as of Sunday. Florida’s positivity rate peaked at 12.3% based on FDOH data.

The good news amid the gloom is new daily cases are now on the decline and have fallen by 38% over the last two weeks. Much of the decline, however, is likely due to a smaller number of tests conducted since Hurricane Isaias shut down testing sites for five days earlier this month.

Florida was conducting 54,000 tests per day before Isaias brushed the East Coast of the Sunshine State. This total has fallen to just over 37,000 as of Aug. 10, based on data from the COVID Tracking Project.

Dr. Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida, believes Isaias might also have disrupted some of Florida's COVID-19 response efforts. She confirms statewide testing declined due to the hurricane, giving a false impression about the decline in new cases.

“I’m always cautious," said Prins, who calls for conducting more tests to get an accurate assessment of the situation. "It does seem like we’re on a downward trend -- maybe."

Some doctors see deaths as a more accurate indicator of the extent of a COVID-19 outbreak because it's less dependent on available testing capacity.

Florida now has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. (542,792) and the sixth highest death toll (8,553), as of Tuesday. California has the most cases nationwide (585,281) while New York has the most deaths (32,857).