Ryan Nicol
COVID-19 cases rose week-to-week in Miami-Dade County according to new data from the Department of Health. That’s the first time that’s happened since early August.
The increase is largely a result of a testing increase, however. The share of tests that came back positive — also known as the case positivity rate — actually fell week-to-week in Miami-Dade. That number sat at 5.3% over the previous seven days, dropping from 5.8%.
Though cases were up week-to-week, this week marks the fifth straight that the case positivity rate has dropped in Miami-Dade.
Broward and Palm Beach counties saw more clear good news in the week-to-week trends. Cases were down in each county, as was the case positivity rate. Broward saw a 21% drop in total cases. Broward cases have been dropping at a similar rate for the past four weeks.
Palm Beach saw an even bigger drop, at 36% week-to-week. That’s double the rate seen the previous week, when Palm Beach saw an 18% reduction in overall cases.
The case positivity rate in Palm Beach now sits at 7.5%, off a high of nearly 18% in mid-August. Broward’s case positivity rate over the previous seven days was 6.6%.
The news comes shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo as his new Surgeon General. Ladapo has already moved to ban school districts from forcing asymptomatic students to quarantine if they were exposed to a COVID-19-positive patient.
School board members in all three major South Florida counties have battled with the Governor over state rules restricting local officials from enacting more stringent measures to combat COVID-19 spread.
But with cases dropping, those school districts have started relaxing some of those rules. Miami-Dade County has lowered the amount of time unvaccinated students must quarantine, and Palm Beach officials have also said they would follow the new Surgeon General’s guidance.
Here are some of the weekly numbers for the previous three weeks throughout the South Florida tri-county area:
Miami-Dade
— Sept. 3-9: 9,733 newly confirmed cases, 6.5% positivity rate, 23,003 vaccine doses administered, 89% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
— Sept. 10-16: 7,423 newly confirmed cases, 5.8% positivity rate, 22,372 vaccine doses administered, 90% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
— Sept. 17-23: 8,556 newly confirmed cases, 5.3% positivity rate, 16,813 vaccine doses administered, 91% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
Broward
— Sept. 3-9: 7,108 newly confirmed cases, 9.4% positivity rate, 13,061 vaccine doses administered, 79% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
— Sept. 10-16: 5,503 newly confirmed cases, 7.8% positivity rate, 12,894 vaccine doses administered, 80% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
— Sept. 17-23: 4,349 newly confirmed cases, 6.6% positivity rate, 9,594 vaccine doses administered, 80% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
Palm Beach
— Sept. 3-9: 5,548 newly confirmed cases, 11.6% positivity rate, 8,114 vaccine doses administered, 72% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
— Sept. 10-16: 4,568 newly confirmed cases, 10% positivity rate, 8,165 vaccine doses administered, 73% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
— Sept. 17-23: 2,921 newly confirmed cases, 7.5% positivity rate, 6,067 vaccine doses administered, 74% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated
