MIAMI — What is the COVID-19 situation like in Florida?
In the past seven days, the state has added 3,021 cases and 21 deaths per day, on average, according to Miami Herald calculations of data published by the CDC.
Over the past three weeks, on average, 71 more cases were logged each day in Florida, showing an increase in trends.
As of Tuesday, more than 14,337,000 people are fully vaccinated in Florida. The state has logged at least 5,888,264 cases and 73,738 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 what to know this week:
The South Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe and Manatee 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.”
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has been decreasing. There were 1,040 people hospitalized in Florida, with 107 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-19 hospitalizations data in its “COVID-19 Daily Dashboard.”
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