May 27 update: 0 new cases
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
According to the state dashboard, Alachua County still has a cumulative total of 370 COVID-19-positive cases. No positive results have been reported since yesterday on 160 test results.
Seven deaths have been reported in the county. Six of the seven deaths were from one long-term care facility, Parklands Care Center. The 7 deaths were first reported as positive cases on April 9 (2), April 18 (2), April 20, April 21, and April 23.
74 people (total) have been hospitalized–no change in the past 6 days.
The website with current numbers of long-term care cases in Alachua County shows 72 cases in these facilities, up 6 since the last report on May 24. North Florida Retirement Village has been added to the list, with 1 case, and Parklands Care Center has 5 new cases. 57 cases are at 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 67 cases in long-term care and 1 case in a correctional facility (this case has been identified as a worker at a Marion County facility who tested positive in March).
Available bed capacity in Alachua County is 20.96%.
The state has 52,634 cases (an increase of 379 from yesterday on 10,351 new test results for a positive rate of 3.7%) and 2,319 deaths (an increase of 60 from yesterday, 42 of which were from long-term care facilities). This is likely the post-weekend bump we have been warning about since Saturday.
The state is also now publishing 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 3.29%. (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 33% of the state’s cases. Broward has 13%; Palm Beach 10%; Orange has 4%, and Hillsborough has 4%. Alachua County represents about 1.2% of the state’s population and 0.7% of the state’s cases.
16,093 test results have come back so far in Alachua County (up 160 from yesterday), and 15,708 tests have come back negative. Only 2.3% of the local tests have come back positive so far, and 0 of yesterday’s tests came back positive.
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 291 cases in Gainesville, 16 in Newberry, 14 in Alachua, 8 in Hawthorne, 7 in High Springs, 4 in Waldo, 4 in Tioga, 3 in Micanopy, 1 in LaCrosse, 1 in Santa Fe, and 1 in Archer. 1 case is 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 4.4 through yesterday’s cases. Here is the 7-day average of new cases for the past 14 days, with a trendline. Keep in mind that as the moving average goes back and forth from 3 to 4, this line can have a slight upward or downward trend over 14 days, but the important number is the percentage of positive test results. Also note that when the average is around 4 new cases per day, as it is now, it’s unlikely that we’ll see sustained declines from that number, particularly when we’re doing a lot of testing, as we have been.
Also, we are learning more about the prevalence of false positives in COVID-19 PCR testing; this paper (not yet peer-reviewed) calculates a conservative false positive rate (FPR) of 0.8% and states “The reliability of positive results dropped to near zero in these cases when test positivity approached the estimated FPR.” Our test positivity (see bar chart above) has hovered in the 1% range.
Cases by zip code
32044: 0 cases
32601: 66 cases
32603: <5 cases
32605: 30 cases
32606: 18 cases
32607: 40 cases
32608: 57 cases
32609: 32 cases
32610: <5 cases
32611: 0 cases
32615: 14 cases
32618: <5 cases
32622: 0 cases
32631: 0 cases
32640: 8 cases
32641: 26 cases
32643: 7 cases
32653: 18 cases
32666: 0 cases
32667: <5 cases
32669: 20 cases
32694: <5 cases
Testing information
Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing
The Florida Department of Health in Alachua County (DOH-Alachua) is offering evening drive-thru COVID-19 testing on Wednesdays, from 4-7 p.m. This is in addition to their regular testing schedule. 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.