Kelly Hayes
Hillsborough County confirmed more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 for the second day in a row, according to a Thursday report from the Florida Department of Health.
The county saw 1,312 new cases on Wednesday, which is provided in the Thursday report. On Tuesday, the county confirmed 1,136 new cases, making for a two-day streak of new caseloads over 1,000. The county had been reporting around 500 daily new cases in the past two weeks.
With the addition of the latest report, the county has now seen 83,574 cases of COVID-19.
Cases are also on the rise in Pinellas County, which reported 739 new cases Thursday, up from the 539 cases seen in Wednesday’s state report. The latest tally brings Pinellas’ total caseload to 48,998 since the start of the pandemic.
Both counties reported eight additional deaths from coronavirus in the latest report, bringing Hillsborough’s death toll to 1,110 and Pinellas’ to 1,114. This is the second day in a row Pinellas County has confirmed more deaths than in Hillsborough despite having tens of thousands fewer total cases.
Hillsborough also saw five additional hospitalizations, and Pinellas saw 21.
As for positivity rates, both counties are continuing to see high percentage rates.
Hillsborough reported a 14.38% positivity rate Wednesday. Although lower than yesterday’s 15.75%, it is still showing a startling climb — for reference, in the past week, the positivity rate has averaged around 11% to 13%, and on Monday, it reported a 12.27% positivity rate.
In Pinellas, Wednesday’s positivity rate sat at 10.79%, keeping with the county’s two-week pattern around 11% to 12%. And, although 10% is the threshold that marks wide community spread, it is still lower than Tuesday’s 11.64%, and Monday’s 12.27%.
There is some good news — Hillsborough and Pinellas counties both surpassed the administering of 20,000 vaccines. The latest state report shows that Hillsborough has so far vaccinated 21,106 individuals, and Pinellas 20,371.
