Florida Daily Coronavirus Positivity Rate Falls Below 5 Percent

ACROSS FLORIDA — Florida is continuing to distribute the new 15-minute rapid test to senior communities, with almost 100 new communities added to the distribution list this week.

Earlier this month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the state is in the process of distributing more than 500,000 BinaxNOW 15-minute rapid tests to schools and senior care facilities thanks to a donation from the federal government. The tests normally cost about $100 each, said DeSantis.

He said the beauty of the new test is it requires no lab. Teachers concerned about a student's fever can have the school nurse run the test and know in 15 minutes or less whether they need to isolate the student.

"If a student is either sent to school sick or becomes sick in school, you take the student out and isolate them," the governor said. "But then, if you can get a 15-minute test and you get the negative, then you don't have to worry about isolating some of these other students."

DeSantis said the state began with an initial distribution of 400,000 tests including 800 nursing homes, 100,000 long-term care facilities and 180,000 senior living facilities.

Another 60,000 BinaxNOW tests were provided to schools across the state. DeSantis said schools that utilize rapid testing will be able to avoid making students isolate unnecessarily.

DeSantis said remaining tests will be distributed to coronavirus testing sites across the state so every state-run testing site is able to offer rapid results.

The governor said senior communities that are not already scheduled to receive BinaxNOW tests can apply to receive the tests by emailing rapidtestforseniors@em.myflorida.com.

The tests, he said, can be used for residents, staff and visitors.

"They'll have the ability to do [testing] as they see fit," he said. 'Using this new technology in a way that is protecting our most vulnerable and saving lives is really the key."

The Florida Department of Health is reporting that the coronavirus case positivity rate has been below 10 percent for the past 64 consecutive days. Yesterday’s statewide positivity rate for new cases was 4.38 percent.

Yesterday, coronavirus test results for more than 84,500 individuals were reported to DOH. As of Friday, 748,437 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Florida with 16,030 deaths sincee March.

And the Agency for Health Care Administration shows that the number of positive coronavirus patients that are currently hospitalized is down more than 70 percent since July. As posted on the Agency for Health Care Administration’s hospitalization dashboard at noon Friday, there are 2,086 current hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of coronavirus.
Positive test results:

The DOH also reported a steady decline in the number of reported Florida resident deaths who were previously diagnosed with the coronavirus. The second week of August compared to the second week of September shows a 74 percent decrease in the average number of reported coronavirus-related deaths.

Florida long-term care facility data:

• The list of long-term care facilities with active coronavirus cases is available here.
• The list of long-term care facilities with deaths is available here.
• To date, 6,416 individuals who were staff or residents of a long-term care facility have died.

See related stories:

• FL Providing Rapid Coronavirus Tests To Senior Homes, Schools
• Florida Sees 74 Percent Decrease In Coronavirus-Related Deaths