Florida COVID weekly update: New cases trend up for the first time in over a month
What is the COVID-19 situation like in Florida?
In the past seven days, the state has added 1,505 cases and 39 deaths per day, on average, according to Miami Herald calculations of data published by the CDC.
Over the past three weeks, on average, 21 more cases were logged each day in Florida, showing an increase in trends. This is the first increase in over a month.
As of Tuesday, April 5, more than 14,290,000 people are fully vaccinated in Florida. The state has logged at least 5,856,778 cases and 73,411 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:
State sites close as Miami-Dade continues free tests and vaccines
Florida is closing all of its COVID-19 testing, vaccination and treatment sites because of a lack of federal funding. Miami-Dade, however, will be using FEMA’s Public Assistance Program to pay for tests and vaccines for the uninsured through June.
“We will continue to make testing and vaccination as accessible as possible for those with or without insurance, to keep our community protected and our economy growing,” Levine Cava said in an emailed statement. “We will continue testing our wastewater and sequencing test samples to help monitor for new variants, to stay ahead of the curve in case we face future surges.”
COVID spread in South Florida
Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe and Manatee counties have a low COVID risk level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This risk level is the lowest of the CDC’s three levels: low, medium and high.
Under this risk level, the CDC no longer offers recommendations for the use of masks. It does advise to maintain improved ventilation while indoors when possible.
For the immunocompromised, the CDC recommends having a plan for rapid testing and for talking to your doctor about treatments such as oral antivirals, PrEP and monoclonal antibodies.
It does note, however, that “at all levels, people can wear a mask based on personal preference, informed by personal level of risk. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.”
South Florida and Manatee County COVID-19 Cases
In the period March 25-31, Florida has seen 10,044 new cases, according to Miami Herald calculations of the CDC’s Community Profile Report published Tuesday. New cases were 15% more than those added the previous week.
Here’s a breakdown of how many new COVID cases were reported in South Florida and Manatee County, according to the report.
▪ Miami-Dade reported 2,521 new resident cases in the week ending March 24. The county’s resident case total is 1,186,139. Cases added were 47% more than those added in the previous week.
From March 23 to March 29, 71,843 tests were administered, the CDC reported. This may be an undercount due to delayed reporting, the agency said. Testing decreased by 28.21% from the previous week.
▪ Broward reported 1,286 new resident cases. The county’s resident case total is 603,823. Cases added were 35% more than those added the previous week.
From March 23 to March 29, 33,314 tests were administered, the CDC reported. Testing decreased by 24.14% from the previous week.
▪ Palm Beach reported 823 new resident cases. The county’s resident case total stands at 368,892. Cases added were 19% more than those added the previous week.
From March 23 to March 29, 19,285 tests were administered, the CDC reported. Testing decreased by 8.2% from the previous week.
▪ Monroe reported 23 new resident cases. The county’s resident case total is 18,410. Cases added were 23% fewer than those added the previous week.
From March 23 to March 29, 964 tests were administered, the CDC reported. Testing decreased by 13.31% from the previous week.
▪ Manatee reported 88 new resident cases. The county’s resident case total is 96,305. Cases added were 65% fewer than those added the previous week.
From March 23 to March 29, 3,897 tests were administered, the CDC reported. Testing decreased by 17.73% from the previous week.
South Florida and Manatee County COVID deaths
Florida has added 264 deaths in the past week, according to Herald calculations of the CDC’s Tuesday Community Profile Report.
It is unclear when these newly reported deaths occurred. The Community Profile Report updates Florida’s county tolls and rates about once every seven days.
As of Tuesday’s Community Profile Report, Florida had a rate of 342 cumulative deaths per 100,000 people since the start of the pandemic.
Here’s where death rates and tolls stand in South Florida and Manatee County, according to the CDC:
▪ Miami-Dade’s death toll is 10,800, an increase of 35 deaths from Friday’s report. That’s a rate of 398 cumulative deaths per 100,000 people since the beginning of the pandemic.
▪ Broward’s death toll is 5,805, an increase of 16. That’s a rate of 297 cumulative deaths per 100,000 people.
▪ Palm Beach’s death toll is 5,004, an increase of 11. That’s a rate of 334 cumulative deaths per 100,000 people.
▪ Monroe’s death toll is 117, no new deaths added. The county would be at a death rate of 158 deaths per 100,000 people if its population were that large.
▪ Manatee’s death toll is 1,419, one death was removed from it’s death toll. Manatee has a rate of 352 cumulative deaths per 100,000 people.
Florida COVID-19 hospitalizations
The number of people hospitalized with COVID has been decreasing. There were 995 people hospitalized in Florida, with 123 in the ICU, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services report on Tuesday.
Although newly reported cases during the omicron surge surpassed those reported during the delta surge, hospitalizations have not.
At delta’s August peak, more than 15,000 patients were hospitalized in Florida, according to HHS data.
Miami-Dade County no longer collects and reports COVID hospitalizations data in its “COVID-19 Daily Dashboard.”
Florida COVID-19 vaccinations
About 14,290,114 eligible Floridians — 66.5% 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 5,629,821 Floridians have received a booster, about 39.4% 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 747,851 people, or 32.6% of the fully vaccinated population, have received a booster.
▪ In Broward, about 531,821 people have received a booster, or 38.4% of the fully vaccinated population.
▪ In Palm Beach, about 414,111 people have received a booster, or 42% of the fully vaccinated population.
▪ In Monroe, about 21,254 people have received a booster, or 36.7% of the fully vaccinated population.
▪ In Manatee, about 107,093 people have received a booster, or 43.3% of the fully vaccinated population.
Miami Herald Reporter Daniel Chang contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Florida COVID weekly update: New cases trend up for the first time in over a month."
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