August 9 update: 54 new positive tests, 2 new hospitalizations, no new deaths
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
According to the state dashboard, Alachua County has a cumulative total of 4,142 people with COVID-19-positive test results, an increase of 54 from yesterday on 627 test results with an official test positivity rate of 5.6%. The median age of positive tests (overall) in Alachua County is 31. 2 new hospitalizations were reported, and no new deaths were reported.
The new hospitalizations are a 9-year-old female who first tested positive on August 5 and reported symptoms starting August 2 and a 57-year-old male who first tested positive on July 29 and reported symptoms starting July 20. Both reported contact with COVID-positive individuals.
Of the 54 people whose tests came back yesterday, 4 were 65 or older:
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).
173 people (total) have been hospitalized, an increase of 2 since yesterday. 26 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 167 cases, a decrease of 2 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 132 cases in long-term care (an increase of 1 from yesterday) and 43 cases in a correctional facility (an increase of 12 from yesterday).
Available hospital bed capacity in Alachua County is 19.2%, and ICU capacity is 12.99%.
North Florida Regional has 12 ICU beds available (25% 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 2 new county residents hospitalized, the overall number of people (from all counties) hospitalized here for COVID-19 dropped from 123 to 112. It’s also down 25 from 137 a week ago.
State COVID-19 hospitalizations are dropping dramatically, from 7,952 a week ago to 6,847 today.
The state has 532,806 cases (an increase of 6,229 from yesterday on 39,798 new test results) and 8,186 deaths (an increase of 77 from yesterday, 31 of which were from long-term care facilities).
The breakdown of deaths by date for the report of 77 deaths is not yet available.
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 8.46%. (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.)
71,409 test results have come back so far in Alachua County (up 627 from yesterday). The official positivity rate yesterday was 5.6%.
The University of Florida is reporting that 25 out of 12,172 faculty and staff without symptoms tested positive, 38 out of 8,343 students without symptoms tested positive as part of UF’s “Screen, Test & Protect” program. 182 out of 873 students “with or without symptoms” tested positive at the Student Health Care Center.
According to the daily report, there are 3,324 cases in Gainesville, 250 in Alachua, 178 in Newberry, 98 in High Springs, 74 in Archer, 69 in Hawthorne, 36 in Micanopy, 16 in Waldo, 11 in Santa Fe, 8 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 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.