Florida reports fewer than 2,000 new COVID cases as decline continues

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida reported 1,899 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the fewest attributed to a single day since early July.

The state has reached 3,609,643 cases and 56,413 deaths tied to COVID since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest CDC data posted Monday.

Three deaths have been added since Friday.

Florida has gone six straight weeks with fewer new infections than the week prior.

The state’s health department reported 25,792 new cases from Oct. 1-7, the lowest since the week that began July 2.

Florida’s statewide new-case positivity rate last week was 4.8%, lowest since mid-June. (See the full weekly report at the bottom of this page.)

The latest numbers represent a sharp decline from the peak of the summer surge in August, the worst month of the pandemic in Florida.

In mid-August, the state was reporting an average of more than 21,000 new cases per day.

Hospitalizations have also trended downward. There were once about 17,000 people hospitalized across the state with COVID-19, and now there are fewer than 4,000, according to the Florida Hospital Association.

While COVID-19 deaths are also declining since August, those trendlines are more difficult to define as the state continues to report large batches of backlogged fatality data.

The state’s weekly report, published Friday, notes 147 new deaths, but those are only confirmed deaths that happened from Oct. 1-7. The cumulative death toll rose by 1,368 from the previous Friday report (55,299) to this past Friday’s (56,667).

It is likely that more fatalities from Oct. 1-7 will be logged in the coming days.

SEE THE STATE’S FULL REPORT FROM LAST WEEK BELOW:

Click here for information on where to get COVID-19 testing or vaccines in South Florida.