New weekly case count doubles in Florida
Testing positivity tops 5% for first time since late September
Florida’s COVID cases are climbing again, as the state on Friday reported more than double the number of newly documented cases for the week.
The increase comes as two coronavirus variants circulate across Florida and with outbreaks happening in pock- ets of the state. Even before Christmas and New Year’s have arrived, testing sites are swamped, positivity rates in counties are rising and the number of hospitalized COVID patients is increasing. The seven-week lull in new cases that followed the summer’s delta wave clearly is over.
Florida reported 29,568 new cases for the week on Friday, more than double the 13,530 new cases state health officials reported only a week ago.
The test positivity rose to 5.4%, up from 2.6% a week ago. Public health experts say the virus is considered under control when the COVID-19 test positivity rate is under 5%.
New cases for the week ending Dec. 16 are the highest reported since the last week of September, and it’s the first time case positivity is over 5% since the week of Sept. 23.
If the demand for COVID testing is any indication, the number of new cases likely will continue to increase.
Jacqueline Rodriguez, 27, tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday. A week later, she can’t get an appointment at the same Miami urgent care where she got swabbed a week ago because all time slots are filled. “So much has changed in a week,” she said. “What’s going on is nuts.”
For now, Florida is seeing only a small rise in COVID hospitalizations, while hospitals in northern and midwestern states are experienc
ing new peaks in admissions, driven by the unvaccinated.
“We have been here before and we are always on edge for when the next surge may come,” said Dr. Hayley Gershengorn, a critical care physician with the University of Miami Health System. “Compared to colleagues around the country, we are at a much easier moment than many of them are.”
In Florida, COVID hospital admissions are up 9.5% from last week, however, they are well below their summer peak. Still, those who care for COVID patients are not complacent.
“We are primed and ready to re deploy people and space if necessary,” Gershengorn said. “We have a very organized plan of action if the numbers get very high.”
In Broward, the number of hospitalized COVID patients rose from 96 a week ago to 140 on Friday. Palm Beach County hasn’t updated its COVID hospital dashboard since Oct. 18.
The detection of omicron in at least 25 states, including Florida, has health officials concerned that the variant could lead to an additional infection wave if it proves even more contagious than delta. On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’s not worried because Florida has COVID treatment such as monoclonal antibodies easily accessible.
“We do anticipate on Jan. 1 seeing higher levels of COVID than on Nov. 1, but this is the seasonal pattern,” he said. “What you are seeing in the Northeast and Midwest is almost exactly the same seasonal pattern as last year.
“It’s about three to four weeks behind last year’s schedule. The rise and peak is happening very similar to what happened then.”
DeSantis said Florida is uniquely positioned to combat a rise in cases “with a variety of tools.”
He announced Friday that Florida will of fe rim mu no compromised people an innovative pre-exposure treatment of monoclonal antibodies. That would be in addition to the early treatment of monoclonal antibodies offered at 25 sites in the state to those at high risk who have been newly diagnosed with COVID-19.
Although Florida’s case count is rising, it is below August when new cases reached 151,675 in one week.
Still, Floridians continue to succumb to the disease. The COVID death count rose again for the week ending Dec. 16. There were 194 additional deaths reported. That brings the state’s overall death toll to 62,220 people, which includes 470 Floridians under age 30 — six more than last week.
The weekly count reported Friday reflects all deaths over the last week or even weeks prior that are newly confirmed with COVID as the cause of death.
Throughout the pandemic, a total of 3,739,348 people in the state have had COVID.
New cases
Palm Beach County on Friday reported 2,445 additional cases, up from 942 additional cases a week prior. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 231,638.
Broward County on Friday reported 4,770 additional cases, up from 1,524 additional cases, a week ago. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 367,706.
Miami-Dade County on Friday reported 11,689 additional cases, up from 2,771 additional cases a week earlier. The total number of confirmed cases in the county stands at 695,385.
Test positivity
Health officials reported a statewide positivity rate of 5.4%, double last week’s rate of 2.6%. At its worst, Florida’s test positivity climbed as high as 20.5% for the week ending Aug. 19. In South Florida, the new case positivity rate rose in all three counties.
In Broward, it was 6.9%, up from 2.6% a week ago; in Palm Beach County, it was 6.5%, up from 2.3% a week ago; and in Miami-Dade, it was 7.0% up from 2% a week ago.