August 20 update: 54 new positive tests, no new deaths
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
According to the state dashboard, Alachua County has a cumulative total of 4,813 people with COVID-19-positive test results, an increase of 54 from yesterday, with an official test positivity rate of 4.39%. The median age of positive tests (overall) in Alachua County is 32. No new deaths were reported.
Of the 54 people whose tests came back yesterday, 9 were 65 or older. (The chart shows 51; 3 were on previous dates.)
The weekly report on emergency room visits for COVID-like illness shows that Alachua County has finally taken a real downward turn:
A total of 31 deaths have been reported in the county. Nine of the deaths were reportedly from one long-term care facility, Parklands Care Center, and four were from other long-term care facilities. The 31 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, July 24 (2), July 27, August 2, August 4, and August 8.
247 people (total) have been hospitalized, an increase of 8 from yesterday; the total hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 (which includes non-residents) decreased from 121 to 119.
The website with current numbers of institutional care cases in Alachua County shows 203 cases, a decrease of 42 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 190 cases in long-term care (an increase of 1 from yesterday) and 80 cases in a correctional facility (an increase of 3 from yesterday).
Available hospital bed capacity in Alachua County is 15.08%, and ICU capacity is 6.49%.
North Florida Regional has 11 ICU beds available (23% of capacity), and Shands has 9 available (3.5% 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 decreased from 121 to 119.
State COVID-19 hospitalizations are dropping dramatically, from 6,325 a week ago to 5,067 today.
The state has 588,602 cases (an increase of 4,555 from yesterday on 29,514 new test results) and 10,049 deaths (an increase of 117 from yesterday, 53 of which were from long-term care facilities).
Changes in the number of deaths were reported on 29 different dates, going back to May 17. The current peak is still July 20 (184). Here are the actual dates of death:
8/19 – 16
8/18 – 27
8/17 – 10
8/16 – 5
8/15 – 2
8/14 – 5
8/13 – 8
8/12 – 5
8/11 – 2
8/10 – 5
8/9 – 3
8/8 – 3
8/7 – 3
8/6 – 7
8/4 – 4
8/3 – 1
8/2 – 3
8/1 – 1
7/28 – 1
7/26 – 1
7/23 – 4
7/22 – 3
7/21 – removed 4
7/17 – removed 1
7/16 – 1
7/14 – 1
7/11 – 1
7/10 – 1
5/17 – removed 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 6.78%. (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 4.39%.
The University of Florida reported zero new positives out of 12 tests on faculty and staff, zero positives out of 82 new tests on students without symptoms, and one new positive out of 7 tests at the Student Health Care Center.
According to the daily report, there are 3,839 cases in Gainesville, 307 in Alachua, 211 in Newberry, 118 in High Springs, 84 in Hawthorne, 82 in Archer, 40 in Micanopy, 19 in Waldo, 13 in Santa Fe, 10 in Tioga, 9 in LaCrosse, 3 in Evinston, 2 in Earleton, 2 in Jonesville, 2 in “University of Fl.”, and 1 in Island Grove. 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 61.3 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.