Florida COVID infections drop to lowest level since mid-June

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida’s coronavirus infections continue to decline, with the state reaching eight consecutive weeks with fewer new cases than the week prior.

The state health department on Friday reported 15,314 new cases from Oct. 15-21 — the fewest in a week since mid-June.

It amounts to fewer than 2,200 new infections per day, far below the 21,000+ new cases per day that were reported during the peak of the summer surge in August.

Florida’s new-case positivity rate has lowered to 3.4% for the past week, the ninth straight week that metric has declined. (See the state’s full weekly data report at the bottom of this page.)

According to the CDC’s latest data, Florida is up to 3,635,103 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 58,608 deaths associated with the virus since the start of the pandemic.

That reflects a daily increase of 2,006 cases.

On Thursday, 465 deaths were added to the state’s total, which span back weeks. Florida has routinely added backdated fatality data, assigning the deaths to the date when they occurred.

For that reason, the 106 new deaths reported in the state’s weekly report are an incomplete number. That does not reflect deaths newly reported for previous dates, and the death toll from this past week is likely to increase in time.

However, fatalities have trended downward since the summer, as have hospitalizations.

The state once neared 17,000 COVID patients hospitalized at one point, and now there are fewer than 2,300, according to the Florida Hospital Association.

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

Read the Florida Department of Health’s weekly COVID-19 data report below: