COVID-19 cases continue on a downward trend in South Florida

COVID-19 cases are continuing a gradual decline in South Florida, as the region recorded just 2,269 new cases in Wednesday’s Department of Health report.

That’s after Monday’s report saw just 2,468 new cases. Those two numbers are among the lowest since the calendar changed, as South Florida’s tri-county area mostly experienced a virus resurgence following the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Now, those new case marks appear to be on the decline. The case positivity rate is also on a downward trajectory, as that number now sits below 8% in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

The region did cross the 660,000-case mark overall in Wednesday’s report. Deaths have also yet to see a similar downward trend, as the region reported another 31 COVID-19 deaths Wednesday. In total, 9,256 people from the tri-county area have died since the pandemic began.

The state is continuing to up its vaccination efforts in South Florida. On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a new pop-up vaccination site in Pahokee, which sits in western Palm Beach County near Lake Okeechobee.

DeSantis said the new site, located at Anquan Boldin Stadium at Pahokee Middle-Senior High School, would help officials reach more rural and minority areas.

“Not everyone is going to be able to get the vaccine in the same way,” DeSantis said. “They may not have access to get to the same places.”

Here are some of the weekly numbers for the previous three weeks throughout the South Florida tri-county area:

Miami-Dade

— Jan. 13-19: 40 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 23 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,273 new confirmed cases per day, 9.3% positivity rate

— Jan. 20-26: 38 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 20 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,956 new confirmed cases per day, 8.1% positivity rate

— Jan. 27-Feb. 2: 34 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 22 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,743 new confirmed cases per day, 7.3% positivity rate

Broward

— Jan. 13-19: 21 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 8 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,113 new confirmed cases per day, 8.2% positivity rate

— Jan. 20-26: 23 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 9 newly-reported deaths per day, 993 new confirmed cases per day, 8.2% positivity rate

— Jan. 27-Feb. 2: 28 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 9 newly-reported deaths per day, 944 new confirmed cases per day, 7.6% positivity rate

Palm Beach

— Jan. 13-19: 18 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 11 newly-reported deaths per day, 748 new confirmed cases per day, 8.5% positivity rate

— Jan. 20-26: 16 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 11 newly-reported deaths per day, 656 new confirmed cases per day, 8.3% positivity rate

— Jan. 27-Feb. 2: 16 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 10 newly-reported deaths per day, 655 new confirmed cases per day, 7.7% positivity rate