Jacob Ogles
The state of Florida reported another 7,537 COVID-19 infections in its Wednesday report. Along with that, the Department of Health also reported another 165 new deaths since Tuesday morning.
The total number of infections since the coronavirus first surfaced in Florida sits at 1,798,280. That includes 1,765,659 Florida residents, along with 32,621 who live out-of-state but tested positive while in the state.
Total deaths climbed to 28,691, a number that includes 483 individuals who live outside of Florida but died here, as well as 28,208 residents of the state.
The positivity rate for tests tallied statewide on Tuesday came in at 8.57%, with 11,520 positive tests reported along with 122,946 negative results.
Health officials consider the spread of the virus to be out of control when positivity climbs over 10%. It climbed to 10.45% on Sunday but has been below that threshold on five of the last six days.
Efforts to vaccinate the state, meanwhile, continue. In a midday Wednesday report, officials said 2,110,794 individuals have now been vaccinated in the state of Florida. That includes 1,287,668 individuals who have received a first dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, and another 823,126 who already received a booster, completing the shot regimen. The state added 53,640 vaccinations to its total overnight.
Of that total number, 1,557,223 fall into the age 65 and older demographic.
Gov. Ron DeSantis at a stop in Venice announced Florida would boost vaccines sent to high-demand locations including Sarasota Square Mall.
At the same time, DeSantis brushed off concerns about the spread of the virus in Tampa Bay after the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, and simultaneously slammed other states for failing to reopen schools faster.
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 nonresidents 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.
