Florida's COVID-19 cases, deaths, hospitalizations continue declining

The downturn in coronavirus cases, positivity rate and deaths continues in Florida, along with a continued decrease in hospitalizations.

This follows a months-long surge driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

According to data released by the Florida Department of Health, the 37,772 new cases of coronavirus in Florida in the week ending Thursday were the lowest since the week of July 2-8.

Statewide, the positivity rate for new cases declined to 6.5% after hitting a peak of 19.8% the week of Aug. 13-19.

This past week, the state added 1,719 deaths from COVID-19 complications. That's the first week since Aug. 20-26 where the death toll was below 2,000.

The state health department recently switched from tallying deaths by the date they were verified to the date they occurred. As a result, it takes the state a while to process the information, so a single date's totals can grow days or even weeks later.

For the first time in six weeks, the majority of new cases were not among children under 12.

There were 5,764 cases in children under 12, about 3,100 fewer than last week. The highest number was 6,127 cases in the age group of 30-39.

As weekly numbers of cases were down across the state, Friday’s single day count released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came in at 5,829.

Hospitalizations also fell to 5,414, down almost 28% since last Friday.

Each week, the Florida Department of Health provides updates on the number of coronavirus cases, changes in positivity rate, vaccinations, and other statewide and county-by-county data.

The following is a summary from Sept. 24-Sept. 30, 2021.

Cases: 3,576,571 positive cases, an increase of 37,772 from the previous week.

Vaccinations: 13,621,506 Florida residents have been vaccinated, a weekly increase of 67,928. In all, 71% of Florida’s population over the age of 12 has received at least one dose of vaccine.

Positivity Rate: The positivity rate for new cases was 6.5%, down from 8.6% the previous week.

Deaths: A total of 55,299 Florida residents have died from a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, an increase of 1,719 from the previous week.

(NOTE: Cases and deaths in the report may have happened days or weeks earlier, according to state officials. The state is also now only counting deaths involving Florida residents.)

ABOUT THE DATA: As of June 4, 2021, the Florida Department of Health no longer offers daily updates on coronavirus data, and instead issues a county-by-county and statewide weekly breakdown on about COVID-19 cases, deaths, and other information. Cases and deaths in the report may have happened days or weeks earlier, according to state officials. The state is also now only counting deaths involving Florida residents.

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