FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida’s COVID-19 infections and the state’s new-case positivity rate more than doubled this week as compared to the last.
And for the second straight day, Florida reported more than 8,700 new cases to the CDC.
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The 8,709 new cases in the CDC’s data Saturday — attributed to Friday — come after 8,785 cases were added in the state the day prior. Another 6,846 new cases were reported the day before that.
Florida had been reporting an average of fewer than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases per day from late October through early December, but these latest numbers suggest a holiday-season surge as the contagious omicron variant rapidly spreads.
The Florida Department of Health’s weekly report, posted late Friday, shows that 29,568 new infections were reported in the state from Dec. 10-16. That’s more than twice as many as the 13,481 from the week prior and the highest weekly total since late September.
The state’s new-case positivity rate also spiked from 2.6% to 5.4% in the past week — also the highest since late September. (See the full weekly report at the bottom of this page.)
The numbers are still well below the peak of the summer surge in August, when the state was surpassing 150,000 new cases per week with a positivity rate topping 20%.
Long lines were seen at some COVID-19 testing sites Friday and Saturday in South Florida. Infectious disease experts are reminding residents to take precautions and to make sure they are vaccinated and get booster shots.
Despite the rising cases, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that Florida will not take any shutdown measures. Instead, he promoted the state’s monoclonal antibody treatment sites for people who do become infected with COVID-19.
Miami-Dade County has ordered hospitals to once again report their daily COVID numbers to get a better idea of the impact of this case surge.
Broward County Mayor Michael Udine said they too are closely watching the hospital numbers.
“We’re monitoring all this basically by the hour to see where things are going to make sure our hospitals don’t become overtaxed,” he said.
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See the full weekly report from the state: