FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida reported 56,865 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, continuing a record-setting week that has also seen a steady increase in infected hospital patients, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
The state’s seven-day average for new cases soared to 46,527 on Saturday. CDC data shows that, as of Friday, all of Florida’s 67 counties are considered at “high” risk of community transmission.
Hospitalizations have also doubled over the past seven days, the steepest week-over-week increase of the pandemic. In early July, as the delta wave was ramping up, hospitalizations were increasing at an average rate of 25% per week.
On Thursday, there were 5,213 patients hospitalized in Florida with COVID-19, though most were likely admitted for reasons other than the virus and tested positive in the hospital.
All three South Florida counties have seen testing positivity rates rise every day for the past week and have the highest rates of any other county in Florida. Broward and Miami-Dade counties had positivity rates of 30% and Palm Beach County was just short of that level. Public health experts say the virus is considered under control when the COVID-19 test positivity rate is under 5%. No counties in Florida have positivity rates below that level.
In December, Florida has climbed in the per-capita rankings for new cases over the past seven days from near last to fourth as of Saturday. The state has averaged 201 cases per 100,000 residents per day over the past week.
As of Friday, at least 4,222,827 Floridians have been infected by COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and at least 62,480 have died.
Meanwhile, an average of 99,267 vaccinations are being administered per day in Florida as of Thursday, the latest data available. About 63.4% of Floridians are fully vaccinated and 31.3% have received booster shots as of Friday.
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