FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida reported 8,709 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, ending a week in which a rush for tests ahead of the holidays resulted in the most new weekly cases since mid-September.
South Florida’s three counties all saw positivity rates near or over 6% and new cases per capita at levels that moved them into the U.S. Center for Disease Control’s ”high” risk level for community transmission. Orange and Monroe counties also are in the high risk category.
CDC data shows that Florida ranks 38th for average per-capita rate of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. with 19 per 100,000; in deaths per capita, Florida ranks second to last behind with Mississippi with 0.13 deaths per 100,000 people. Death reports lag behind cases by as much as a month.
The 7-day average for new cases in Florida was 4,991 on Saturday, its highest level since the last day of September. The increases this month come as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control warned of a potential winter surge due to the rapid spread of the omicron variant of the virus.
As of Saturday, at least 3,748,148 Floridians have been infected by COVID-19 and at least 62,193 have died.
Meanwhile, vaccinations in Florida are averaging about 97,000 doses per day in Florida, largely because of a surge in booster shots, CDC data shows. About 63% of Floridians are now fully vaccinated and 26.2% have received booster shots.
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