July 25 update: 66 new positive tests, 2 new hospitalizations, 2 new deaths
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
The 14-day trendline in cases continues to decrease.
According to the stateĀ dashboard, Alachua County has a cumulative total of 3,050 people with COVID-19-positive test results, an increase of 66 from yesterday on 905 test results with an official test positivity rate of 3.3%. The median age of positive tests (overall) in Alachua County is 30. Two new hospitalizations were reported, and two new deaths were reported.
The new hospitalizations are a 38-year-old female who first tested positive on July 4 and a 20-year-old female who first tested positive on July 3.
The new deaths are a 53-year-old male who first tested positive on July 9 and died on July 19 and a 69-year-old male who was admitted to the hospital for chest pain on June 29 and tested negative for COVID. He tested positive on July 6 and died on July 17.
Perhaps the best news is that data from county emergency rooms (which is delayed ā it currently only goes to July 12) shows that visits peaked around July 5:
On Tuesday, Governor DeSantis said at a press conference that statewide emergency department visits peaked at 2500 per day on July 7 but are now at 1000 per day.
Of the 1,953 people who tested positive between June 11 (the beginning of the āspikeā in cases) and July 15 (cutting it off at July 14 allows a conservative 10 days from the positive test to hospitalization), only 39 (2%) have been hospitalized, and 7 have died (0.35%).
Around June 11, the number of new daily cases jumped about 10-fold, but then it stayed there. So we went from a 7-day average of 4-8 per day to 70-75 per day.
Of the 66 people whose tests came back yesterday, 6 were 65 or older (the chart shows 70 because the state data doesnāt always match up, but the case line list also shows 6):
A total of eighteen deaths have been reported in the county. Ten of the deaths were reportedly from one long-term care facility, Parklands Care Center. The 18 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, July 1, July 6, July 7, July 8, July 9, and July 13.
127 people (total) have been hospitalized, an increase of two from yesterday. Sixteen people have been added to the hospitalization total in the past week. Note that hospitalizations are not necessarily people who seek care for COVID; almost everyone who is admitted to the hospital for any reason is now tested, and a hospital administrator said last Tuesday during the governorās press conference that 30%-40% of āCOVID admissionsā are people who are admitted for other reasons and test positive after admission. He also said they are almost always asymptomatic.
TheĀ websiteĀ with current numbers of institutional care cases in Alachua County shows 115 cases, an increase of 10 from the previous report. The chart says, āThe data is not cumulative but reflects the information available for current residents and staff with cases as of yesterdayās date.ā (The top line shows totals for the state.)
TheĀ county reportĀ shows a cumulative total of 90 cases in long-term care (an increase of 2 from yesterday) and 24 cases in a correctional facility (no change from yesterday).
Available hospital bed capacityĀ in Alachua County is 14.86%, and ICU capacity is 9.42%.
North Florida Regional has 3 ICU beds available (6% of capacity), and Shands has 26 available (10% of capacity). ICU beds are used for all intensive-care patients, not just COVID patients.
The state has 414,511 cases (an increase of 12,199 from yesterday on 59,842 new test results for a raw positive rate of 20.4%) and 5,777 deaths (an increase of 124 from yesterday, 46 of which were from long-term care facilities).
Here are the dates of the new deaths:
7/25 – 1
7/24 – 12
7/23 – 24
7/22 – 13
7/21 – 10
7/20 – 7
7/19 – 4
7/18 – 12
7/17 – 12
7/16 – 14
7/15 – 4
7/14 – 1
7/13 – 3
7/12 – 2
7/11 – 1
7/10 – 1
7/5 – 1
6/5 – 1
5/28 – 1
Here is a graph of Florida fatalities by date through 7 days ago (although small numbers of deaths are being added to dates older than 7 days ago, recent dates will continue to have large increases for at least a week, so itās cut off to remove large drops that will not hold up):
This graph smooths out the data by taking a 7-day moving average; it cuts off at July 17:
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 yesterdayās positive rate was 11.43%. (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 25% of the stateās cases. Broward has 12%; Palm Beach 7%; Hillsborough has 6%; and Orange has 6%. Alachua County represents about 1.2% of the stateās population and 0.74% of the stateās cases (this is dropping).
61,782 test results have come back so far in Alachua County (up 905 from yesterday). 4.9% of the local tests have come back positive so far, and 66 tests came back positive since yesterdayās report, for a raw positive test rate of 7.3%. This chart is for Alachua County, so the official rate was 3.3%.
The University of Florida is reporting 54 positive tests out of 20,323 employees tested since May 6. This is a positive rate of 0.27%. 4 of the last 446 tests were positive, for a positive rate of 0.9%.
UF is also now reporting its testing of students, and it shows 163 positives out of 686 tests for a positive rate of 24%. 1 out of the last 30 results have come back positive, for a positive rate of 3.3%. UF has added information to this page, stating that these tests are the ones run at the UF Student Health Care Center on students who seek care for COVID-like symptoms.
According to theĀ daily report,Ā there are 2,464 cases in Gainesville, 190 in Alachua, 130 in Newberry, 58 in High Springs, 58 in Archer, 40 in Hawthorne, 25 in Micanopy, 10 in Waldo, 8 in Santa Fe, 6 in Tioga, 5 in LaCrosse, and 2 in Earleton. 6 cases are listed in the city of āMissingā in Alachua County, 1 case is erroneously listed in āWesley Chapelā in Alachua County, and 1 case is in āUnkā in Alachua County. Location data is not available for all cases.
The 7-day moving average of new cases is at 74.9 through yesterdayās cases. Here is the 7-day average of new cases for the past 14 days; the trendline continues to trend downward.
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.