WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida's coronavirus situation has subsided to levels near or before the omicron strain surged in December, including cases, positivity rate and hospitalizations. Deaths, which lag behind other indicators, is the lowest in three weeks.
Cases: 5,814,517, which is an increase of 13,956 in one week, the lowest since 12,984 Dec. 10, according to the state Department of Health. In the previous week, the rise was 25,390. During the peak the record was 76,618 on Jan. 8. The seven-day rolling daily average is 2,019, the lowest since 1,963 Dec. 8 with record 65,284 Jan. 11, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Friday, 1,969 new cases were reported with 1,387 Sunday, the lowest since 1,329 Dec. 6.
Florida, which passed 5 million cases on Dec. 28, ranks fifth in the past week behind California, Texas, North Carolina and Washington but is ninth in cases per million with Rhode Island No. 1. Overall Florida is third behind California with 8,399,677 and Texas with 6,665,495.
Deaths: 70,997 residents, which is an increase of 1,207, the lowest since 1,330 Feb.13 with 888 last week. During the peak the record was 2,448 on Sept. 10 amid the delta variant surge, according to the state report. The daily record was 434 occurring on Aug. 27. The number of deaths among those under 16 rose by 2 to 42 with 52,499 among those 65 and older, a rise of 945 (78.3% of total increase).
Florida, which passed the 70,000 milestone Monday, is third behind California at 85,353 and Texas at 84,224. California reported the most deaths in the past week at 1,343.
Positivity rate: 3.3%, which is the lowest since 2.6% Dec. 10, when it was the fewest since the state went to weekly reports on June 4, with last week 5.6%. The target rate is 5% with Palm Beach County at 3.1%, St. Lucie 3.8%, Martin 3.7%, Indian River 6.2%, Okeechobee 4.0%, Broward 2.2%, Miami-Dade 2.0. The two lowest in the state are 1.1% in Washington and1.6% in Liberty.
Hospitalizations: 2,418 with coronavirus (4.17% capacity), the fewest since 2,408 (4.47%) on Dec. 27 and last week 3,358 (5.64%). The record low was 1,228 Nov. 29 (2.24%) with the high during the omicron surge 11,839 (21.29%) on Jan. 19 and the record 17,295 (2.935) on Aug. 29. Florida is fourth behind California and Texas. In the U.S., beds occupied with coronavirus: 39 ,545 for covid (5.1%), one week ago 52,543 (6.71%) and record 160,113 (21.3%) Jan. 20.
Vaccinations: Nearly nine out of 10 adults have received at least one dose of a vaccine (89.6) with 75.9% fully vaccinated and 59.9% a booster. In the U.S., the one-shot rate is 76.5%, two doses 75.1% and boosters 47.3%. Every state in the national has vaccinated at least 70% of adult population with at least one shot except for Wyoming at 69.3%.
Tests: 410,014 in past week (58,573 daily) with 60,083 most recently Feb. 25 and record 276,603 Jan. 3.
Transmission: This week dropped from "high" in every county to overall "substantial" in one week with South Florida counties varying from "moderate" in Martin to "substantial" in Palm Beach, Indian River, Okeechobee and Broward with Miami-Dade and St. Lucie still listed as "high," according to data by the CDC. No county in Florida is "low." The rate is based on positivity rates and cases per 100,000 in past week.
WPTV updates its coronavirus statistics page daily.
