August 12 update: 63 new positive tests, 5 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 4,309 people with COVID-19-positive test results, an increase of 63 from yesterday on 571 test results with an official test positivity rate of 6.0%. The median age of positive tests (overall) in Alachua County is 31. Five new hospitalizations were reported, and no new deaths were reported.

Of the 63 people whose tests came back yesterday, only 3 were 65 or older (the chart shows 62 because 1 was from a previous date):

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).

189 people (total) have been hospitalized, an increase of 5 since yesterday, although the total hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 only increased by 3. 33 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 204 cases, an increase of 21 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 150 cases in long-term care (an increase of 7 from yesterday) and 59 cases in a correctional facility (an increase of 16 from yesterday).

Available hospital bed capacity in Alachua County is 14.86%, and ICU capacity is 8.12%.

North Florida Regional has 11 ICU beds available (23% of capacity), and Shands has 14 available (5% of capacity). ICU beds are used for all intensive-care patients, not just COVID patients.

The overall number of people (from all counties) hospitalized here for COVID-19 increased from 117 to 120. It’s down 22 from 142 a week ago.

State COVID-19 hospitalizations are dropping dramatically, from 7,615 a week ago to 6,551 today.

The state has 550,901 cases (an increase of 8,109 from yesterday on 38,385 new test results) and 8,765 deaths (an increase of 212 from yesterday, 92 of which were from long-term care facilities).

A data dump of 4,000 positive results dating back 7 weeks skewed today’s data.

Florida reported 212 COVID deaths today. The deaths were spread over 35 different dates. Here are the actual dates of death:

8/11 – 22
8/10 – 22
8/9 – 18
8/8 – 7
8/7 – 10
8/6 – 4
8/5 – 6
8/4 – 10
8/3 – 8
8/2 – 4
8/1 – 3
7/31 – 9
7/30 – 5
7/29 – 2
7/28 – 2
7/27 – 5
7/26 – 3
7/25 – 6
7/24 – 5
7/23 – 4
7/22 – 6
7/21 – 8
7/20 – 5
7/19 – 6
7/18 – 4
7/17 – 5
7/16 – 6
7/15 – 3
7/14 – 7
7/13 – 1
7/12 – 3
7/11 – 4
7/9 – 1
7/1 – 1
6/13 – removed 1

The peak is still on July 16 (172).

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 11.89%, which was artificially inflated by the data dump noted above. (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.)

72,746 test results have come back so far in Alachua County (up 571 from yesterday). The official positivity rate yesterday was 6.0%.

In new results, the University of Florida is reporting that 0 out of 6 faculty and staff without symptoms tested positive, and 0 out of 66 students without symptoms tested positive as part of UF’s “Screen, Test & Protect” program. 1 out of 11 students “with or without symptoms” tested positive at the Student Health Care Center.

According to the daily report, there are 3,442 cases in Gainesville, 266 in Alachua, 187 in Newberry, 106 in High Springs, 77 in Archer, 75 in Hawthorne, 35 in Micanopy, 18 in Waldo, 13 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 64.4 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 14 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.