Florida posts 7th straight week with decline in COVID cases

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida has reported a seventh consecutive week with fewer new COVID-19 infections than the week prior, according to the state’s weekly data published Friday.

In the first week of October, the state was averaging nearly 3,700 new cases per day, a figure that has dropped to about 2,800 this past week, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The state’s new-case positivity rate has also fallen to 3.8% for Oct. 8-14, the eighth straight week that has declined. (See the full state report at the bottom of this page.)

The state is up to 3,620,470 confirmed cases and 57,711 deaths tied to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest CDC metrics. That includes 2,821 new cases reported from Thursday.

Florida’s COVID-19 numbers have been in a steady decline since the peak of the summer surge in August. Back then, the state was averaging more than 21,000 new cases per day.

The CDC says Florida has now posted 13 consecutive days with fewer than 4,000 new infections.

Hospitalizations have also steadily declined. At one point in the summer, there were nearly 17,000 COVID patients hospitalized across the state; now there are fewer than 3,000, according to the Florida Hospital Association.

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

SEE THE STATE’S FULL WEEKLY DATA REPORT: