July 11 update: 65 new positive tests, 2 new hospitalizations, no new deaths

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

26% of the 540 students tested so far by UF have had positive COVID tests.

According to the state dashboard, Alachua County has a cumulative total of 2,043 people with COVID-19-positive test results, an increase of 65 from yesterday on 699 test results for a test positivity rate of 9.3%. The median age of positive tests (overall) in Alachua County remains at 29. Two new hospitalizations were recorded: one is a 54-year-old woman who tested positive on July 5, and the other is a 63-year-old woman who tested positive on July 5.

Of the 890 people who tested positive between June 11 and July 1 (cutting it off at July 1 allows a conservative 10 days from the positive test to hospitalization), only 12 (1.3%) overall have been hospitalized, and none have died.

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 30 days old).

Of the 65 people whose tests came back yesterday, only 7 were 65 or older. Two were over 75, and two were over 85.

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.

102 people (total) have been hospitalized, an increase of 2 from yesterday. Six 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, and a hospital administrator said on Tuesday during the governor’s press conference that 30%-40% of “COVID admissions” are people who are admitted for other reasons and test positive after admission. He also said they are almost always asymptomatic.

The website with current numbers of long-term care cases in Alachua County shows 112 cases, down 13 from the previous report. 48 of the cases are from Parklands Care Center (it appears that these patients are finally beginning to test negative–that’s a drop of 15 from the previous report), and Tacachale is now at 36. 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 78 cases in long-term care (the same for the past 4 days) and 7 cases in a correctional facility. 12 cases have been reported in the Alachua County Jail.

The county report also breaks out the various statistics by age:

Available hospital bed capacity in Alachua County is 20.13%. 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 254,511 cases (an increase of 10,360 from yesterday on 53,818 new test results for a positive rate of 19.2%) and 4,197 deaths (an increase of 95 from yesterday, 27 of which were from long-term care facilities). Deaths are delayed and may go all the way back to March. At the same time, the number of deaths that actually occurred yesterday could increase at any time in the next few months.

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 12.64%. (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 11%; Palm Beach 8%; Hillsborough has 7%; and Orange has 7%. Alachua County represents about 1.2% of the state’s population and 0.8% of the state’s cases.

49,717 test results have come back so far in Alachua County (up 699 from yesterday). 4.1% of the local tests have come back positive so far, and 65 tests came back positive since yesterday’s report, for a positive test rate of 9.3%.

The University of Florida is reporting 38 positive tests out of 18,003 employees tested since May 6 (Tuesday they said they had tested 20,817 employees). This is a positive rate of 0.2%.

UF is also now reporting its testing of students, and it shows 142 positives out of 540 tests for a positive rate of 26%.

According to the daily report, there are 1,688 cases in Gainesville, 102 in Alachua, 79 in Newberry, 36 in High Springs, 34 in Archer, 20 in Hawthorne, 11 in Micanopy, 8 in Waldo, 7 in Santa Fe, 6 in Tioga, 5 in LaCrosse, and 2 in Earleton. 4 cases are listed in the city of “Missing” in Alachua County, and 1 case is erroneously listed in “Wesley Chapel” in Alachua County. Location data is not available for all cases.

The 7-day moving average of new cases is at 77.4 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.