Manatee County COVID update: 77 new cases, over 40,000 have been vaccinated

Another 77 people in Manatee County have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to the Florida Department of Health. They were among 5,436 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed statewide on Sunday.

The state health department also recorded the deaths of 96 additional Florida residents. In a rarity, no new non-resident deaths were recorded on Sunday. Florida’s death toll during the pandemic now totals 28,779 residents and 496 non-residents.

Sunday’s numbers of new cases and deaths are the lowest reported by the state health department this year. However, Florida continues to see some of the highest numbers in the U.S.

Over the last week, Florida recorded the fourth-most new COVID-19 cases and deaths of any state, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Manatee County, the death toll remained at 547 on Sunday, while the cumulative count of cases since testing began rose to 30,333.

Of known Manatee County COVID-19 cases, about 4% have resulted in hospitalization and about 2% have been fatal, according to health department data.

The local positivity rate ticked up slightly this week after it had been on a downward trend over the last several weeks.

Over the last week, an average of 6.3% of Manatee County test results were new positive cases. That compares to 5.9% the week prior and 7.9% a month ago.

As of Saturday, over 40,000 people had now been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Manatee County, according to the state health department’s vaccine report. That number includes over 22,000 people who have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and over 17,000 who have been fully inoculated.

Statewide, over 1.2 million had received a first dose, and over 1 million were fully inoculated.

Manatee County from Saturday to Sunday

• Cases increased from 30,256 to 30,333. (867 new cases were recorded over the past week.)
  
  
• The death toll remained at 547. (It increased by 39 over the past week.)
  
  
• Resident hospitalizations since the outbreak increased from 1,307 to 1,311. (20 new hospitalizations were recorded over the last week.)
  
  

• Manatee County’s daily rate of new positive cases increased from 5.4% to 7.3%.

• 1,319 cases (4% of all cases) and 176 deaths (32% of all deaths) were among residents and staff of long-term care facilities in Manatee.

• The official count of people vaccinated against COVID-19 increased from 38,712 to 40,073. (It increased by 7,231 over the last week.)
  
  
• 22,752 people have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 17,321 have been fully inoculated.
  
  

Florida from Saturday to Sunday

• Cases increased from 1,821,937 to 1,827,373.
  
  
• The resident death toll rose from 28,683 to 28,779. The non-resident death toll remained at 496.
  
  

• Florida’s daily rate of new positive cases increased from 6.2% to 7%.

• The official count of people vaccinated against COVID-19 increased from 2,293,883 to 2,355,792.
  
  

• 1,273,651 people have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 1,082,141 have been fully inoculated.

Surrounding counties

• Sarasota County cases increased from 25,948 to 25,982. The death toll remained at 676.
  
  
• Pinellas County cases increased from 63,023 to 63,171. The death toll remained at 1,371.
  
  
• Hillsborough County cases increased from 106,060 to 106,420. The death toll increased from 1,395 to 1,397.
  
  
• Hardee County cases increased from 2,699 to 2,712. The death toll remained at 25.
• Desoto County cases increased from 3,541 to 3,549. The death toll remained at 69.
  
  

This story was originally published February 14, 2021 at 3:44 PM.