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News about coronavirus in Florida and around the world is constantly emerging. It's hard to stay on top of it all but Health News Florida can help. Our responsibility is to keep you informed, and to help discern what’s important for your family as you make what could be life-saving decisions.

Hillsborough County Officials Warn About Local Coronavirus Surge

A respiratory clinic at USF Health Morsani where nurses are conducting COVID-19 testing.
Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Hillsborough County officials are reporting a 61 percent increase in coronavirus cases from a week ago.

Close to one in five of people tested have been positive the past seven days.

Douglas Holt, Hillsborough County director for the Florida Department of Health, has been tracking the coronavirus for months. He told the Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group on Thursday that the spike he's seeing now is among the worst in the Tampa Bay area.

Holt said the department will continue to monitor local and state data, and break it down even further to assess trends, especially when it comes to race, ethnicity, and zip codes. Black and minority communities have been affected disproportionately by the coronavirus, he said.

"We are going to begin to look at data in seven-day intervals. This is important because we need to track the rate of change,” Holt said. “Things are moving fast and quickly. This will give us the best measure the best idea of how widespread and intense the COVID fire that we have burning."

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As of Thursday night, county hospital bed availability remains at 25 percent and ICU bed availability at 20 percent, he said. In the most recent seven days, 60 percent of cases are 34 years old or younger.

Holt also said masks are key to slowing community spread.

"While they don't work 100 percent of the time 100 percent of the time they do help," he said. "And at this point in time, we must do all we can to try and slow this virus down. And while I cannot guarantee this will stop it, it is our best chance.”

Holt said while he wishes mandates were not needed, he supports the county's order that requires masks for anyone entering or working at a business in Hillsborough County.

Holt said that at this time, contact tracing has not shown that mass protests are linked to the surge in cases.

Copyright 2020 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7

Daylina Miller is a multimedia reporter for WUSF and Health News Florida, covering health in the Tampa Bay area and across the state.
Daylina Miller
Daylina Miller, multimedia reporter for Health News Florida, was hired to help further expand health coverage statewide.