August 14 update: 92 new positive tests, 13 new hospitalizations, one new death

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

According to the state dashboard, Alachua County has a cumulative total of 4,483 people with COVID-19-positive test results, an increase of 92 from yesterday, with an official test positivity rate of 7.4%. The median age of positive tests (overall) in Alachua County is 32. 13 new hospitalizations were reported, and one new death was reported.

The new death is an 84-year-old female who tested positive on July 21. According to the case line data, she did not visit an emergency room, was not hospitalized, and was not successfully contacted by contact tracers.

Of the 92 people whose tests came back yesterday, 20 were 65 or older (the chart shows 94 because 2 were from previous dates).

A total of 27 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 21, July 22, and July 24 (2).

207 people (total) have been hospitalized, an increase of 13 since yesterday; the total hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 decreased by 1. 44 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 199 cases, an increase of 3 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 153 cases in long-term care (an increase of 2 from yesterday) and 64 cases in a correctional facility (an increase of 1 from yesterday).

Available hospital bed capacity in Alachua County is 13.53%, and ICU capacity is 8.12%.

North Florida Regional has 9 ICU beds available (19% of capacity), and Shands has 16 available (6% 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 decreased from 126 to 125.

State COVID-19 hospitalizations are dropping dramatically, from 7,145 a week ago to 5,893 today.

The state has 563,285 cases (an increase of 6,148 from yesterday on 39,519 new test results) and 9,141 deaths (an increase of 228 from yesterday, 81 of which were from long-term care facilities).

The newly-reported deaths were spread over 35 different dates; the peaks so far are at July 16 and July 20(172), with July 25 close behind (171). Here are the actual dates of death:

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

These are not totals by day; they’re increments added today.

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 8.08%. (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.)

In Alachua County, the official positivity rate yesterday was 7.4%.

The University of Florida did not report new results today.

According to the daily report, there are 3,575 cases in Gainesville, 281 in Alachua, 198 in Newberry, 111 in High Springs, 78 in Archer, 78 in Hawthorne, 36 in Micanopy, 19 in Waldo, 13 in Santa Fe, 9 in LaCrosse, 8 in Tioga, 2 in Earleton, 2 in Jonesville, 2 in “University of Fl,” and 2 in Evinston. 9 cases are listed in the city of “Missing” in Alachua County, 1 case is erroneously listed in “Wesley Chapel” in Alachua County, and 1 case is in “Unk” in Alachua County. Location data is not available for all cases.

The 7-day moving average of new cases is at 68.4 through yesterday’s cases. Here is the 7-day average of new cases for 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.