Jacob Ogles
Florida continues to see five-figure increases daily in its COVID-19 caseload.
The Department of Health reported an additional 11,576 individuals tested positive as of Monday morning, bringing the total since March to 1,488,586. That’s a significant increase, but less cases than were added Saturday or Sunday.
More startling, another 163 deaths made it into the state database, showing the human cost of holiday gatherings continues to mount. A total of 23,424 have now died in Florida while infected by the coronavirus, including 23,071 residents and 353 visitors being treated within the state.
On a more optimistic note, officials report 587,956 individuals have received an approved COVID-19 vaccine in the state of Florida, including 39,988 who now have received a first shot and a booster.
Still, federal officials on both sides of the aisle continue to pressure Florida to do a better job of delivering inoculations. Sen. Rick Scott, a Naples Republican, has demanded Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees explain why foreign nationals appear to be receiving vaccines sometimes ahead of qualified Florida seniors. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat, has pushed for more vaccines to be distributed among veterans and within hard-struck minority communities?
Through Monday morning, a total of 65,796 Florida residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19, or 201 more than reported on Sunday.
The positivity rate statewide has remained greater than 10% every day for the past two weeks, and on Tuesday sat at 13.17%. About 16,956 test results reported on Tuesday came back positive out of 111,839 gathered. That’s notably a lower number of test returns than seen in a week, and significantly more than the 88,747 test results reported last Sunday.
Meanwhile, leadership within the Florida Legislature continues to wrestle with how to enter Session as the pandemic rages on in Florida. With pre-Session committee weeks on the way, the House updates its rules for visitors to hearings. The protocols range from general precautions such as mandatory face coverings and social distancing to more tailored directions addressing in-person meetings and public participation. The protocols are intended to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Editor’s note on methodology: The Florida Department of Health releases new data every morning around 10:45 a.m. The total number reported in those daily reports include the previous day’s totals as well as the most up to date data as of about 9:30 a.m.
Florida Politics uses the report-over-report increase to document the number of new cases each day because it represents the most up-to-date data available. Some of the more specific data, including positivity rates and demographics, considers a different data set that includes only cases reported the previous day.
This is important to note because the DOH report lists different daily totals than our methodology to show day-over-day trends. Their numbers do not include non-residents who tested positive in the state and they only include single-day data, therefore some data in the DOH report may appear lower than what we report.
Our methodology was established based on careful consideration among our editorial staff to capture both the most recent and accurate trends.
