Ryan Nicol
South Florida’s tri-county area is continuing to see mixed trends in COVID-19 data just days ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Wednesday’s Department of Health report continued to show the positivity rate dropping week-to-week in parts of the region while holding steady in others. But hospitalizations are still increasing week-to-week in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Miami-Dade recorded another 30 new hospitalizations Wednesday, as the region has seen its highest hospitalization levels since the tail end of the summer outbreak in August.
The Wednesday report saw another 3,621 confirmed cases across South Florida’s tri-county area. The region added another 12 deaths, marking 7,734 lives lost in the three counties due to the COVID-19 virus.
The recent Thanksgiving holiday did reverse some good signs in the numbers. But South Florida did not experience the same massive surge in cases as some other regions. Still, experts are warning against large gatherings for the Christmas holiday, especially with multiple vaccines just coming into use. Those vaccines may make large events possible in the months ahead, but doses are only available for high-risk populations at the moment.
In anticipation of a possible surge following the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Broward County installed a curfew set to begin late Thursday night. Miami-Dade County also has a curfew in effect.
Here are some of the weekly numbers for the previous three weeks throughout the South Florida tri-county area:
Miami-Dade
— Dec. 2-8: 22 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 10 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,095 new confirmed cases per day, 8.5% positivity rate
— Dec. 9-15: 21 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 12 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,232 new confirmed cases per day, 9% positivity rate
— Dec. 16-22: 33 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 11 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,280 new confirmed cases per day, 8.3% positivity rate
Broward
— Dec. 2-8: 22 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 7 newly-reported deaths per day, 972 new confirmed cases per day, 7.6% positivity rate
— Dec. 9-15: 22 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 5 newly-reported deaths per day, 909 new confirmed cases per day, 7.2% positivity rate
— Dec. 16-22: 24 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 6 newly-reported deaths per day, 995 new confirmed cases per day, 6.8% positivity rate
Palm Beach
— Dec. 2-8: 13 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 7 newly-reported deaths per day, 533 new confirmed cases per day, 7.2% positivity rate
— Dec. 9-15: 13 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 7 newly-reported deaths per day, 517 new confirmed cases per day, 7.1% positivity rate
— Dec. 16-22: 17 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 7 newly-reported deaths per day, 577 new confirmed cases per day, 7.1% positivity rate
