July 1 update: 48 new positive tests, one new hospitalization, no new deaths
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
According to the state dashboard, Alachua County has a cumulative total of 1245 people with COVID-19-positive test results, an increase of 48 from yesterday on 584 test results for a test positivity rate of 8.2%. The median age of positive tests (overall) in Alachua County remains at 29.
This graph is for Alachua County:
These charts show the age distribution of cases in Alachua County and a comparison of the ages of cases before and after June 10. The migrant worker tests first started coming in on June 10, and protests with large numbers of participants occurred on the weekend of June 13. (Scroll down to the graphs at the bottom to see how they change around June 18-19, which is when you would expect to start seeing infections from a June 13 event.)
The age distribution changed markedly around June 10. Before June 10, 36% of positive tests were 35 or under; after June 10, 73% of positive tests were 35 or under.
To date, the case fatality rate for those 35 and under in Alachua County is 0%; in Florida, it’s 0.04%, less than half the accepted fatality rate of flu (around 0.1%). The hospitalization rate for those who test positive and are 35 or under in Alachua County is 1.8%; in Florida, it’s 2.1%.
The top chart shows the number of cases overall in each age group; the bottom one shows the percentage of cases in each age group before and after June 10.
This is a very different disease in young people than in the very old. The fear is that the increase in young cases will spread to older people, but so far that’s not happening (and the spike is now 21 days old).
This graph shows the actual number of daily cases by age group. You can see the spike around June 11 from the migrant farm workers and a second one around June 18, possibly from the large student gatherings in protests on the weekend of June 13. You can also see the that number of positive tests in older people is unchanged.
This is the same graph, but using a 7-day moving average:
A total of twelve deaths have been reported in the county. Ten of the deaths were reportedly from one long-term care facility, Parklands Care Center. The 12 deaths were first reported as positive cases on April 9 (4), April 18 (2), April 20, April 21, April 23, May 10, May 12, and May 24.
94 people (total) have been hospitalized, an increase of one from yesterday. Four people have been added to the hospitalization total in the past week. Note that hospitalizations are not necessarily people who seek care for COVID; everyone who is admitted to the hospital for any reason is now tested.
The website with current numbers of long-term care cases in Alachua County hasn’t been updated today; the last report showed 90 cases, up 15 from the previous report. Tacachale now has 8 positive residents and 7 positive staff. 58 of the cases are from Parklands Care Center. 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 75 cases in long-term care (an increase of 1 since yesterday) and 2 cases in a correctional facility (I’ve been told that both of these are related to correctional facilities in other counties).
Available bed capacity in Alachua County is 17.02%. You may have seen stories about hospital capacity around the state, tying the increased number of patients to COVID. The truth is that the increased number of patients is from elective procedures that were delayed during the pandemic.
The state has 158,997 cases (an increase of 6,563 from yesterday on 35,405 new test results for a positive rate of 18.5%) and 3,550 deaths (an increase of 45 from yesterday, 21 of which were from long-term care facilities).
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 15.04%. (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.)
Dade County has 24% of the state’s cases. Broward has 10%; Palm Beach 9%; Hillsborough has 7%; and Orange has 7%. Alachua County represents about 1.2% of the state’s population and 0.78% of the state’s cases.
41,900 test results have come back so far in Alachua County (up 584 from yesterday), and 40,646 tests have come back negative. 3% of the local tests have come back positive so far, and 48 tests came back positive since yesterday’s report, for a positive test rate of 8.2%.
The University of Florida is reporting 27 positive tests out of 16,874 employees tested since May 6. This is a positive rate of 0.16%; it is unclear whether these negative test results are included in the overall numbers for Alachua County (positive test results are required to be reported). If they’re not included, the overall positivity rate for Alachua County (assuming these employees are Alachua County residents) drops to 2.1%. We are trying to get more information about this, but officials at UF are unsure whether their negative test results are included in the DOH results, and DOH hasn’t answered our question about the number of tests they’ve done in Alachua County.
Here is the official graph for Alachua County:
Also, here is the graph for the percentage of emergency department visits for cough, fever, and shortness of breath (normal baseline is around 2%).
According to the daily report, there are 1047 cases in Gainesville, 52 in Alachua, 45 in Newberry, 22 in High Springs, 14 in Archer, 11 in Hawthorne, 7 in Waldo, 6 in Micanopy, 5 in Santa Fe, 4 in Tioga, and 2 in LaCrosse. 4 cases are listed in the city of “Missing” in Alachua County. Location data is not available for all cases.
The 7-day moving average of new cases is at 62.9 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.