BREATHLESS! FLORIDA BODY COUNT RISES, COVID LEADS TO ANOTHER 62 LAST BREATHS

FLORIDA OFFICIALS SEEMINGLY SUPPRESSING PALM BEACH COUNTY POSITIVITY RATE. NUMBER VARIES WILDLY FROM COUNTY’S OWN REPORT.

BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — The COVID-19 body count in Florida continues to rise, as Florida logged 62 deaths through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, according to the Florida Department of Health. Florida also recorded 7,160 new infections. The positivity rate for Saturday is 9.28 percent. Note: testing and reporting numbers are impacted due to hurricane closures.

In Palm Beach County, no deaths were logged Saturday through 11:59 p.m. with 376 new COVID-19 infections. Again, we stress that testing and reporting is skewed due to hurricane closures. There were 18 deaths reported a day earlier. We continue to report two positivity rates for Palm Beach County: one from the State of Florida and another from the Palm Beach County Operations Center. The “State of Florida” number dramatically decreased as the Palm Beach County School Board announced “distance learning only” for the start of the school year. The Palm Beach County Operations Center number has been consistent. For Saturday, the “State of Florida” positivity rate for Palm Beach County is a seemingly unbelievable 8.2 percent. The Palm Beach County Operations Center version of that number is 12.98 percent.

There are now 34,226 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Palm Beach County with 833 deaths. Statewide, there are 487,132 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 7,084 deaths.