FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida reported 20,071 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday as the number of patients in the hospital with the virus declined to its lowest level since Jan. 5, federal data shows.
The seven-day average for new cases continued its three-week decline, falling to 24,683, its lowest level since Christmas Day. The daily case average in Florida has now dropped by 58% since the peak of the omicron surge on Jan. 7.
Hospitalizations
On Monday there were 8,788 patients in Florida hospitals with COVID-19, a 25.3% decline from the omicron surge’s hospitalizations peak on Jan. 18, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There were 1,318 adult patients in intensive care with COVID, down 19.2% from the omicron peak. The data combines patients who were admitted with the virus and those who tested positive after admission.
Deaths
Deaths, which lag behind cases for as much as three weeks, have been increasing in Florida even as cases decline. The state has increased its death count by 1,266 over the past week, including six new deaths reported Tuesday. An average of 180 Floridians have died of COVID-19 per day, the highest rate since Oct. 17 when the delta surge was ending.
Vaccinations
The seven-day average for daily vaccinations declined to 35,210 on Tuesday, CDC data shows. That’s the lowest average rate of vaccinations in Florida since July 11. At the peak of the omicron wave, the state was average 118,177 vaccinations per day. About 65.1% of Floridians are fully vaccinated and 36.7% have received booster shots.
South Florida county levels
South Florida’s counties — including Monroe — has the lowest testing positivity rate of all of Florida’s 67 counties. Broward County’s rate dropped below 20% over the weekend for the first time since Dec. 30. In Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, the seven-day average for cases per capita dropped to their lowest levels since before Christmas.
—Palm Beach County: 582 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 20.7% positivity rate.
—Broward County: 610 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 18.6% positivity rate.
—Miami-Dade County: 847 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 20.2% positivity rate.
At least 5,555,874 Floridians have been infected by COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and at least 65,271 have died in total.
———
