Weekly COVID-19 case numbers go down in three major South Florida counties for first time since May

The weekly COVID-19 case numbers are falling significantly in all three major South Florida counties according to a new report from the Department of Health.

Those numbers remain relatively high, far higher than they were prior to the beginning of this summer’s spike. But the newest weekly totals, released early Friday evening, show weekly case numbers have dropped in all three counties for the first time since May.

The case positivity rate dropped 4 percentage points in Palm Beach County. Last week’s report showed 17.9% of tests came back positive from Aug. 13-19. From Aug. 20-26, that number was 13.9%.

Broward’s case positivity rate dropped 3.2 points week-to-wgeek, going from 16.1% to 12.9%. Miami-Dade saw a drop of 2.2 points, from 12.6% to 10.4%.

Raw cases were also down week-to-week in all three counties. Florida Politics reported the region had been showing signs of a peak in the summer case surge for weeks. The most weekly report appears to confirm those signs. It’s unclear whether the start of school would affect those trends, but South Florida’s major counties are clearly moving in the right direction in terms of cases.

However, hospitals will likely not be in the clear for another few weeks. That’s because hospitalizations and death trends often lag case trends. Those who were sickened a week or two prior may just be entering the hospital or may still need treatment.

All three major South Florida counties have bucked Gov. Ron DeSantis, as he tried to block school boards from requiring masks for students. Officials in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward all ignored that order. A court also ruled against the Governor earlier Friday.

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

Miami-Dade

— Aug. 6-12: 21,561 newly confirmed cases, 12.4% positivity rate, 44,622 vaccine doses administered, 83% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Aug. 13-19: 19,906 newly confirmed cases, 12.6% positivity rate, 39,708 vaccine doses administered, 85% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Aug. 20-26: 16,706 newly-confirmed cases, 10.4% positivity rate, 32,560 vaccine doses administered, 86% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

Broward

— Aug. 6-12: 14,675 newly confirmed cases, 16.5% positivity rate, 27,724 vaccine doses administered, 74% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Aug. 13-19: 13,521 newly confirmed cases, 16.1% positivity rate, 22,598 vaccine doses administered, 76% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Aug. 20-26: 11,664 newly-confirmed cases, 12.9% positivity rate, 17,331 vaccine doses administered, 77% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

Palm Beach

— Aug. 6-12: 9,159 newly confirmed cases, 17.8% positivity rate, 16,335 vaccine doses administered, 68% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Aug. 13-19: 9,257 newly confirmed cases, 17.9% positivity rate, 13,673 vaccine doses administered, 70% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Aug. 20-26: 8,595 newly-confirmed cases, 13.9% positivity rate, 11,792 vaccine doses administered, 71% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated