Florida COVID update: 2,006 more cases added to state, lowest weekly new cases since June

Florida reported 2,006 COVID-19 cases and no new deaths on Thursday, according to Friday’s report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on Miami Herald calculations of CDC data.

The Florida Department of Health will most likely add more deaths to Thursday’s total, increasing it from zero. The state has done this in the past when it has added cases and deaths to previous days during the pandemic.

The last time the state saw no increase in deaths consistently, without backlogged deaths added later, was in early March of last year during the nascent days of the pandemic, according to CDC data supplied by the state.

In all, Florida has recorded at least 3,635,103 confirmed COVID cases and 58,608 deaths.

In the past seven days, on average, the state has added 128 deaths and 2,090 cases per day, according to Herald calculations of CDC data.

Weekly Florida COVID Overview

During the week of Oct. 15-21, Florida saw the lowest levels of new cases since late June, which was before the start of the state’s third wave, according to Herald analysis of Florida Department of Health weekly data released Friday.

From Oct. 15-21, Florida tallied 14,564 new resident cases. This was the lowest level since the week of June 18-24, when Florida’s new weekly case count was 11,048. Friday’s weekly case counts have been on a downward trend that began in mid-August, according to Herald calculations of the Florida DOH’s weekly situation report.

Here’s how many new resident cases South Florida counties and Manatee County tallied from Oct. 15-21:

▪ In Miami-Dade County, 2,086 cases were added, compared to 2,731 reported last week. Miami-Dade’s cumulative resident case toll is at 670,019.

▪ In Broward County, 1,472 cases were added, compared to 1,851 reported last week. Broward’s cumulative resident case toll is at 355,580.

▪ In Palm Beach County, 998 cases were added, compared to 1,377 reported last week. Palm Beach’s cumulative resident case toll is at 224,195.

▪ In Monroe County, 64 cases were added, compared to 44 reported last week. Monroe’s cumulative resident case toll is at 10,445.

▪ In Manatee County, 262 cases were added, compared to 325 reported last week. Manatee’s resident case toll is at 64,610.

Miami-Dade also has the second lowest new case 7-day positivity rate in Florida at 2.2%, with Union taking first at 1%, according to Florida’s weekly report. Surrounding South Florida counties are also seeing low rates with Broward at 2.9% and Palm Beach at 3.4%.

FLORIDA COVID VACCINE RATES

About 12,721,909 eligible Floridians — 59.2% 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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

VACCINATIONS IN SOUTH FLORIDA AND MANATEE COUNTY

Here’s how many people have been fully vaccinated in South Florida and Manatee County, according to the CDC.

▪ In Miami-Dade County, about 2,038,136 people, or 75% of the county’s total population, are fully vaccinated.

▪ In Broward County, about 1,231,224 people are fully vaccinated, or 63% of the county’s population.

▪ In Palm Beach County, about 893,709 people are fully vaccinated, or 59.7% of the county’s population.

▪ In Monroe County, about 51,657 people are fully vaccinated, or 69.6% of the county’s population.

▪ In Manatee County, about 222,492 people are fully vaccinated, or 55.2% of the county’s population.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida

There were 2,525 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida, according to a Friday report by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, which compiled data from 258 Florida hospitals. Hospitalized COVID patients dropped by 205 from Thursday’s report, when 255 hospitals submitted data. This continues a trend of decreasing hospitalizations.

COVID-19 patients take up 4.42% of all inpatient beds in the latest report’s hospitals, compared to 4.7% in the previous day’s reporting hospitals.

Of the people hospitalized in Florida, 638 people were in intensive care unit beds, a decrease of 59. That represents about 10.16% of the state’s ICU hospital beds, compared to 11.09% from the previous day.

Friday’s Miami-Dade County report said there were 240 COVID patients in the county’s hospitals on Thursday, a decrease of 60 from the previous day’s report. Of the 28 new COVID patients, 21 (75%) had not been vaccinated.

Broward County’s Friday report said there were 279 COVID patients in the county’s hospitals, an increase of 33 from the previous day’s report.