Florida COVID weekly update: State seeing rise in new cases after month of stagnation
What is the COVID-19 situation like in Florida?
In the past seven days, the state has added 11,072 cases and 62 deaths per day, on average, according to Miami Herald calculations of data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over the past three weeks, on average, 109 more cases were logged each day in Florida. New cases have started to increase again after nearly a month of stagnation, trends show.
COVID information shifting to weekly trends. What to know about finding the report
As of Tuesday, July 19, more than 14,549,762 people are fully vaccinated in Florida. The state has logged at least 6,679,879 cases and 76,839 deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020.
The number of cases is likely an undercount due to positive results from at-home COVID testing. The state also only tracks resident cases and deaths, excluding nonresidents.
Here’s a breakdown of what to know this week:
Tracking COVID variants
The two new omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, are spreading throughout the United States. They were first detected in South Africa earlier this year.
From July 10-July 16, the BA.5 strain remained the most dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for 77.9% of cases. The BA.4 accounted for 12.8%, becoming the second most dominant strain, according to CDC data.
In the first week of May, the two variants accounted for only about 1% of new COVID cases.
In the Southeast region, which includes Florida, BA.5 accounted for 76.7% of cases in the area and BA.4 accounted for 13.1%, the most dominant strain and second most.
READ MORE: ‘We should definitely be concerned.’ Miami-Dade’s COVID-19 cases, positivity rates soar
COVID spread in South Florida
Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Manatee and Monroe are at a high COVID-19 risk level, according to the CDC. Under the high-risk level, the CDC recommends everyone wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
If you are immunocompromised or at a high risk for severe disease, the CDC recommends wearing a mask as well as avoiding “nonessential” indoor activities in public.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade’s COVID-19 cases, positivity rates soar
Florida COVID-19 hospitalizations
There were 4,444 people hospitalized in Florida, with 437 in the ICU, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services report on Tuesday.
Over the past three weeks, on average, 36 more people were hospitalized each day in Florida, showing an increase in seven-day average hospital trends. At that same time, on average, three more people were in the ICU with COVID each day in Florida, another increase in trends.
During omicron’s January peak, more than 15,000 patients were hospitalized in Florida, according to HHS data.
Florida COVID-19 vaccinations
About 14,549,762 eligible Floridians — 67.7% of the state’s population — have completed the two-dose series of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or have completed Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, according to the CDC.
About 6,093,801 Floridians have received a booster, about 41.9% of the state’s fully vaccinated population.
Here’s how many people have received a booster in South Florida and Manatee County, according to the CDC:
▪ In Miami-Dade, about 813,818 people, or 34.8% of the fully vaccinated population, have received a booster.
▪ In Broward, about 575,327 people have received a booster, or 40.8% of the fully vaccinated population.
▪ In Palm Beach, about 449,979 people have received a booster, or 44.8% of the fully vaccinated population.
▪ In Monroe, about 23,560 people have received a booster, or 40.1% of the fully vaccinated population.
▪ In Manatee, about 115,683 people have received a booster, or 45.8% of the fully vaccinated population.
