Janelle Irwin Taylor
New cases of COVID-19 in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have remained relatively stable since Christmas, though both counties’ positivity rates continue to sit in unsafe territory.
Hillsborough County tallied 551 new cases from Sunday morning to Monday morning, according to Florida Department of Health data released Monday. That brings Hillsborough’s total tally to 80,586.
That number is largely consistent with most of the past two weeks, but it could be troubling considering Monday reports typically see fewer new cases than those reported later in the week, largely because the data represents testing processed over the weekend when resources are in shorter supply.
Further, the county’s positive test rate for new COVID-19 tests has been consistently over 10% for more than a week, landing at 14.52% in Sunday’s batch. The county hasn’t seen a daily rate less than 10% since Dec. 29 and its six-day average rate is at 13%.
Florida Politics used a six-day average instead of a weekly average because one-week ago there was a spike that turned out to be an anomaly, showing a one-day positivity rate of more than 32%. If that day were included, it would skew the overall average higher and may not accurately reflect data trends.
Testing in Hillsborough County is still relatively low compared to recent weeks before the holidays at just 3,268 Sunday, down from 3,594 Saturday and 5,365 Friday. Typically, days when fewer tests are received show higher percent positivity rates.
Trends are similar in neighboring Pinellas County, though overall numbers are still lower.
Pinellas added 347 new cases from Sunday to Monday, again a number that’s on par with recent days’ updates. The county’s pandemic-wide total is now at 47,207.
But, like Hillsborough, positivity rates are on an upward trajectory. One week ago, Pinellas County’s rolling seven day average of positive test results remained below 10%. Now that average is at 11.2%. Sunday’s single-day rate was 11.09%. The county hasn’t seen a daily average under 10%, also like Hillsborough, since Dec. 29.
And also similarly, overall testing remains relatively low at 2,718 tests received on Sunday, down from 4,012 Saturday and 3,700 Friday.
But Pinellas continues to show worse health outcomes for COVID-19 patients compared to its neighbor to the east. Pinellas County added 13 new confirmed deaths in Monday’s report, bringing its death toll to 1,079, and 16 new hospitalizations. Hillsborough added just two new deaths and its death toll, at 1,092, is only slightly higher than Pinellas’ despite having tens of thousands more confirmed cases. Hillsborough also added just four new hospitalizations.
