August 11 update: 75 new positive tests, 10 new hospitalizations, no new deaths
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
The 7-day average of cases has dropped by 17 in the past 14 days.
According to the state dashboard, Alachua County has a cumulative total of 4,246 people with COVID-19-positive test results, an increase of 75 from yesterday on 462 test results with an official test positivity rate of 9.8%. The median age of positive tests (overall) in Alachua County is 31. Ten new hospitalizations were reported, and no new deaths were reported.
The new hospitalization is a 67-year-old person of unknown gender who tested positive on August 9 and first experienced symptoms on July 26.
Of the 75 people whose tests came back yesterday, 8 were 65 or older (the chart shows 78 because 3 were from previous dates):
A total of 26 deaths have been reported in the county. Nine of the deaths were reportedly from one long-term care facility, Parklands Care Center, and two were from other long-term care facilities. The 20 deaths were first reported as positive cases on April 9 (4), April 18 (2), April 20, April 21, April 23, May 10, May 12, May 24, June 23, June 29, July 1, July 6 (2), July 7, July 8, July 9 (2), July 13, July 16, July 22, and July 24 (2).
184 people (total) have been hospitalized, an increase of 10 since yesterday, although the total hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 dropped by 8. 29 people have been added to the hospitalization total in the past week.
The website with current numbers of institutional care cases in Alachua County shows 183 cases, an increase of 15 from the previous report. The chart says, “The data is not cumulative but reflects the information available for current residents and staff with cases as of yesterday’s date.” (The top line shows totals for the state.)
The county report shows a cumulative total of 143 cases in long-term care (an increase of 10 from yesterday) and 43 cases in a correctional facility (no change for the past 2 days).
Available hospital bed capacity in Alachua County is 15.93%, and ICU capacity is 13.31%.
North Florida Regional has 13 ICU beds available (27% of capacity), and Shands has 28 available (11% of capacity). ICU beds are used for all intensive-care patients, not just COVID patients.
In spite of having 10 new county residents hospitalized, the overall number of people (from all counties) hospitalized here for COVID-19 decreased from 125 to 117. It’s down 24 from 141 a week ago.
State COVID-19 hospitalizations are dropping dramatically, from 7,857 a week ago to 6,755 today.
The state has 542,792 cases (an increase of 5,831 from yesterday on 35,514 new test results) and 8,553 deaths (an increase of 276 from yesterday, 119 of which were from long-term care facilities).
Florida reported 276 COVID deaths today (Tuesdays are always a catch-up day). The deaths were spread over 36 different dates. Here are the actual dates of death:
8/10 – 10
8/9 – 36
8/8 – 37
8/7 – 31
8/6 – 13
8/5 – 15
8/4 – 17
8/3 – 2
8/2 – 2
8/1 – 5
7/31 – 20
7/30 – 14
7/29 – 8
7/28 – 9
7/27 – 1
7/26 – 5
7/25 – 4
7/23 – 5
7/22 – 3
7/21 – 4
7/20 – 7
7/19 – 4
7/18 – 4
7/17 – 3
7/16 – 1
7/15 – 1
7/14 – 1
7/11 – 3
7/10 – 1
7/9 – 3
7/7 – 1
7/6 – 1
7/5 – 1
7/4 – 2
6/28 – 1
6/22 – 1
The peak is still on July 16 (166).
The state also publishes a chart of the percentage of new tests that are positive by day (this chart is for the whole state), and yesterday’s positive rate was 10.3%. (The state charts only count people who test positive for the first time, and they may assign results to a different date than the day the test result came back. Our calculations are just positives/total tests for new results.)
72,175 test results have come back so far in Alachua County (up 462 from yesterday). The official positivity rate yesterday was 9.8%.
The University of Florida is reporting that 25 out of 12,200 faculty and staff without symptoms tested positive, 38 out of 8,476 students without symptoms tested positive as part of UF’s “Screen, Test & Protect” program. 183 out of 885 students “with or without symptoms” tested positive at the Student Health Care Center. The change from yesterday is zero positives on one test.
According to the daily report, there are 3,395 cases in Gainesville, 262 in Alachua, 183 in Newberry, 103 in High Springs, 76 in Archer, 74 in Hawthorne, 35 in Micanopy, 17 in Waldo, 11 in Santa Fe, 9 in LaCrosse, 8 in Tioga, 2 in Earleton, 2 in Jonesville, and 1 in Evinston. 8 cases are listed in the city of “Missing” in Alachua County, 1 case is erroneously listed in “Wesley Chapel” in Alachua County, 1 case is in “Unk” in Alachua County, and 1 case is in “Ocala” in Alachua County. Location data is not available for all cases.
The 7-day moving average of new cases is at 63.3 through yesterday’s cases. Here is the 7-day average of new cases for the past 14 days. The 7-day average of cases has dropped by 17 in the past 14 days.
Testing information
Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing
The Florida Department of Health in Alachua County (DOH-Alachua) is offering drive-thru COVID-19 testing on Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. DOH-Alachua is offering COVID-19 testing to Alachua County residents, regardless of symptoms. Residents who want a COVID-19 test are asked to call 352-334-8810 for an appointment. A referral from a doctor is not required. If your insurance covers this, it will be billed (no copay is required). If not, it is free.
COVID-19 Testing Results Phone Line
The Department of Health in Alachua County has set up a dedicated line for residents to call for COVID-19 test results. The phone number is 352-334-8828, and it is staffed Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.