Ryan Nicol
South Florida’s tri-county area recorded 63 COVID-19 deaths in Monday’s Department of Health report.
That’s the second time in five days the region has seen 63 additional COVID-19 deaths. South Florida had not seen daily death tolls that high so close together since the height of the summer surge, when treatment efforts were less advanced than they are now.
That brings the region’s overall death toll just seven shy of 9,500. South Florida has seen at least 30 newly-reported COVID-19 deaths in 16 out of the last 18 days.
Such a sustained trend shows the region is not through the worst of the pandemic just yet, despite the state’s continued vaccination efforts for senior citizens. Hospitalizations have also increased week-to-week in both Broward and Palm Beach counties, though that metric has decreased in Miami-Dade.
That vaccination work isn’t all in vain, however. Newly-reported cases and the case positivity rate are decreasing week-to-week in all three counties over the previous two weeks. The tri-county area recorded 2,580 new cases Monday, putting the region above 676,000 confirmed cases since the pandemic’s start.
Cases have been trending downward for weeks, giving South Floridians hope that better times would be on the horizon. But the continuing high death tolls should show residents the consequences of letting up on social distancing efforts before the vaccine is widely available.
Vaccination efforts in Miami-Dade County, the hardest hit county in the state, are also lagging. According to the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade has vaccinated around 25% of its seniors. That’s below the state average of around one-in-three seniors vaccinated.
Late Monday, Democratic Sen. Annette Taddeo criticized the Ron DeSantis administration, arguing more should be done in Florida’s most populous county.
“The Governor is clearly more interested in photo ops and politicizing the process than digging into the data and distributing vaccines where the crisis warrants deeply targeted vaccination,” Taddeo said.
“Minority communities are highly impacted by this virus and there is little excuse the Governor can offer as to why communities like Miami-Dade are not receiving the full aid and support from the Governor’s team. For our vulnerable populations, I sincerely hope this matter is rectified and addressed, so Miami-Dade and vulnerable communities properly receive the vaccine allotment needed.”
Meredith Beatrice, the Governor’s spokesperson, said DeSantis “has visited Miami several times since the beginning of the year and has consistently recognized the need for proactive efforts to get the vaccine to our senior population.”
Here are some of the weekly numbers for the previous three weeks throughout the South Florida tri-county area:
Miami-Dade
— Jan. 18-24: 36 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 19 newly-reported deaths per day, 2,088 new confirmed cases per day, 8.4% positivity rate
— Jan. 25-31: 37 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 23 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,778 new confirmed cases per day, 7.6% positivity rate
— Feb. 1-7: 30 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 19 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,586 new confirmed cases per day, 7.3% positivity rate
Broward
— Jan. 18-24: 23 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 9 newly-reported deaths per day, 1,036 new confirmed cases per day, 8.1% positivity rate
— Jan. 25-31: 26 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 10 newly-reported deaths per day, 938 new confirmed cases per day, 7.8% positivity rate
— Feb. 1-7: 28 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 10 newly-reported deaths per day, 863 new confirmed cases per day, 7.3% positivity rate
Palm Beach
— Jan. 18-24: 18 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 12 newly-reported deaths per day, 698 new confirmed cases per day, 8.5% positivity rate
— Jan. 25-31: 14 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 6 newly-reported deaths per day, 668 new confirmed cases per day, 8.1% positivity rate
— Feb. 1-7: 22 newly-reported hospitalizations per day, 15 newly-reported deaths per day, 526 new confirmed cases per day, 7% positivity rate
