NEW: Florida surpasses 1 million coronavirus cases

New CDC model projects COVID-19, will nearly double this winter. The forecasting model was developed by researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis. It projects the possibility of more than 12 million cases of coronavirus in the U.S. by Jan. 20. Since the beginning of November, coronavirus infections in the U.S. have increased by more than 3.1 million. Nearly 86,000 people are currently hospitalized in the U.S. with COVID-19. If the COVID-19 surge does not soon begin to drop, health care workers could soon face the necessity of rationing hospital care. What kind of Thanksgiving we have is going to go a long way to determining what December looks like, what our holiday season going to look like, Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama State Health Officer, via CNN. Experts say that the safest way to avoid contracting the virus during the holiday season is to avoid travel, and to adhere to social distancing and mask suggestions

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida has surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases after reporting 8,847 new cases Tuesday, according to news outlet WPLG.

The state also recorded 82 additional deaths Tuesday, WPLG reported.

Another 6,658 cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday in Florida, which brought the total close to 1 million before it was exceeded Tuesday.

The cumulative total, representing all cases since the first ones were confirmed in early March, was 999,319 on Monday. California and Texas also have topped 1 million cases.

The state reported 97 deaths Monday, according to the Florida Department of Health, which compiles the daily updates. Most of the deaths happened in recent weeks but were just confirmed in the past day.

California, Texas and Florida are the three most populous states, so it’s not surprising that they would account for the largest case totals. On a per-person basis, however, Florida ranks 23rd for COVID-19 cases, with North Dakota heading the list, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Broward County: 826 additional cases and five more deaths reported Monday. Broward has a known total of 107,524 cases and 1,693 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The death tally includes 29 nonresidents.

Palm Beach County: 361 additional cases and 16 more deaths. The county now has 65,372 confirmed cases and 1,718 deaths. The fatalities include 24 nonresidents.

Miami-Dade County: 1,962 additional cases and one more death. The county now has 229,618 confirmed cases and 3,858 deaths. The death tally includes 23 nonresidents.

Public health experts say the virus is considered under control when the COVID-19 test positivity rate is under 5%. Florida exceeds 5% by both of its measures of assessing the rate for testing of residents.

In the first calculation, the state reported a daily positivity rate of 8.4% Monday, up from 7.85% the day before. This method of calculating positivity counts new infections only, but also counts repeat negative tests, which skews the figure downward.

According to the state, Monday’s new case numbers reflect the results of 87,739 COVID-19 tests of Florida residents received from labs in the past day, down from 103,123 results reported Sunday.

In the second calculation, which includes retests of people who were previously diagnosed, the statewide daily positivity rate is 11% based on the latest results for 87,139 residents. That’s up from 10.06% the previous day.

Broward County: Test results for 9,505 residents were reported Monday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 8.56%. That’s up from 7.28% the previous day.

Palm Beach County: Test results for 4,669 residents were reported Monday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 7.56%, up from 7.06% the previous day.

Miami-Dade County: Test results for 19,721 residents were reported Monday, leading to a daily positivity rate of 9.81%, down from 10.04% the previous day.

The state’s pandemic data report shows a total of 18,597 Floridians have died from COVID-19. In addition, 236 nonresidents have died, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 18,833.

Florida has the fourth-highest total of COVID-19 deaths among the states, behind New York, Texas and California, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Florida’s death rate since the pandemic began ranks 14th in the nation at 86 deaths per 100,000 people, the CDC reports. That’s higher than the national rate of 81 deaths per 100,000.

At least 7,315 residents and staff members have died at nursing homes and assisted living centers throughout Florida as of Monday, up 38 from the day before.

Miami-Dade County reported the highest number of resident and staff deaths at long-term care facilities, with 862. Palm Beach County was second with 761, up six from the previous day. Broward has reported 469 deaths, an increase of two since Sunday.

COVID-19 infections among children under age 18 continued to rise across Florida. Monday’s total showed 89,675 cases statewide. That’s an increase of 11,947 during the last two weeks and an increase of 843 in the past 24 hours.

Records show 752,224 kids have been swabbed since the beginning of the pandemic. And 11.9% of them have tested positive.

Overall, the statistics show 19,741 cases among children in Miami-Dade County, the most in the state. That’s an increase of 279 from Sunday. Broward had 11,751 cases, an increase of 132 cases from the day before. Palm Beach County had 5,463 infections, another 55 in the past day.

Rich Barak of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.