Florida has its fourth-highest jump in daily COVID-19 cases
Florida recorded its fourth-highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began 16 months ago, reporting 17,589 new cases Wednesday to the federal government and deepening the state’s exposure to the virulent delta variant.
It was the eighth consecutive day that Florida has reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more than 12,000 new daily COVID cases. On June 28, Florida reported only 1,312 new COVID cases.
Florida, which represents about 6.5% of the U.S. population, is accounting for about 20.4% of the country’s new cases. The state also reported 56 new deaths.
The high caseloads — and the most severe cases — are primarily among unvaccinated individuals, public-health experts say, calling it a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
The state’s three highest days of new COVID cases occurred during Florida’s peak in January: 19,816 cases on Jan. 7; 19,530 cases on Jan. 8; and 17,783 cases on Jan. 6, according to state data.
January was the worst month of the Florida pandemic, with daily case counts routinely topping 10,000. That followed a surge last July, when daily case counts also topped 10,000.
Florida’s seven-day positivity rate climbed to 17.21% on Monday, up from 16.79% on Sunday, the state reported to the federal agency.
Cumulatively, Florida has recorded at least 2,551,923 confirmed COVID cases statewide and 38,896 deaths as of Wednesday, according to the CDC.
More than 12.2 million Floridians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or about 57.2% of the state’s total population, according to Florida’s weekly COVID reports. About 49% of Florida’s total population is fully vaccinated, in line with the U.S average.
Starting Friday, Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach will not allow visitors at its medical center or physician locations, while having limited visitation at its emergency centers in Miami Beach, Aventura and Hialeah.
Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe are considered areas of high transmission by the CDC.
In Miami-Dade County, 1,652,516 people are fully vaccinated, or 60.8% of the county’s total population. The seven-day positivity rate was 12.74% from July 19-25.
In Broward County, only 1,002,929 people are fully vaccinated, or 51.4% of the county’s total population. The seven-day positivity was 15.03% from July 19-25.
In Palm Beach County, only 752,132 people are fully vaccinated, or 50.3% of the county’s total population. The seven-day positivity rate was 16.4% from July 1925.
In Monroe County, only 43,749 people are fully vaccinated, or 58.9% of the county’s total population. The seven-day positivity rate was 14.22% from July 19-25.