FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As Florida moves toward a new normal, the state is seeing an uptick in new COVID-19 cases, just as the subvariant known as “stealth omicron” takes over.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Florida recorded 10,137 new cases for the seven days ending March 31, a 15.9% increase from the 8,746 new cases it reported during the seven days prior.
The uptick comes after Florida saw its lowest level of new cases during the seven-day period ending March 11.
The BA.2 subvariant of omicron, considered more contagious than the original omicron strain, now represents 40% of cases in the Southeast region which encompasses Florida. It appears to be triggering an uptick in the Sunshine State, particularly in South Florida.
However, fewer people are hospitalized now with COVID-19 in the United States — and in Florida — than at any other point in the pandemic. On Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s chief medical adviser, told CNN he is hopeful that because of high immunity levels in the country, the uptick in cases will not result in another surge in hospitalizations.
In all three South Florida counties, new cases increased in the seven days ending March 30.
In Broward County, new cases are up 6.5% from the week prior; in Palm Beach County, new cases are up 30%; and in Miami-Dade, new cases are up 21.5%. The rising case numbers come even as fewer test results are being reported in those counties, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which received its information from Florida’s health department.
Boca Raton family doctor Jeffrey Stein said he went a few weeks with no new patient cases, but in the last two weeks, he’s seen a handful of positive COVID tests. “We have gotten complacent, especially in Florida,” Stein said. “It worries me, especially with what’s going on in China and the U.K.”
BA.2 is now the dominant version of COVID-19 in the U.S. as it accounts for nearly 55% of COVID cases.
In other parts of the world where it already had been dominant, the subvariant has put pressure on doctor’s offices and hospitals. But U.S. scientists say it is difficult to predict what the variant’s spread in one country means for another nation because previous strains have affected parts of the world differently.
So far, the uptick in new cases in Florida has not led to more hospitalizations in Florida — at least not yet.
Cano Health, which has 140 clinics in six states, is monitoring its patients closely and encouraging them to get a booster dose if they are due for it. “There is no current spike of infections, but we are seeing a slight uptick,” said Dr. Richard Aguilar, chief clinical officer for Miami-based Cano Health. “There’s been no change in hospitalization or ER visitation rates but I think we might see that over the next two or three weeks.”
At Memorial Healthcare System in South Broward, COVID hospitalizations are at their lowest levels in two years. The system had as many as 746 COVID patients during the delta peak and 723 during the omicron peak. This week, the health system had only 65 COVID patients and only six in the intensive-care units.
“Our ICUs are back to pre-COVID volume,” said Dr. Aharon Sareli, a critical care specialist with Memorial. “Between vaccine immunity and community immunity, we are hopeful.”
Sareli said he is cautiously optimistic that the uptick in cases will not turn into another wave of hospitalizations, now or in the future.
“I think we will see blips and subvariants, but my prayer is there won’t be any more deadly waves. People will be infected with mild disease and able to get over it without hospitalizations or deaths, and society can resume moving toward pre-pandemic interactions.”
At its worst, the test positivity rate in Florida had soared to 31.3% during the omicron surge. It is now down to 3%-4.9% statewide. In South Florida, the positivity rate had been below 3.1% in all three counties a week ago and has risen slightly to 4.75% in Broward and 3.54% in Miami-Dade.
COVID deaths continue to mount in the state, an indicator that omicron has been deadly for some Floridians. Florida reported another 255 deaths in the last seven days, bringing the state’s COVID death toll to 73,244 people as of March 31.
Although the Florida Department of Health has moved toward reporting COVID data every two weeks, the South Florida Sun Sentinel will be updating the data weekly as reporters continue to watch for emerging trends.
