Steady decline in South Florida COVID-19 cases continues, weekly totals down nearly 90% from Summer peak

There’s more good news in South Florida’s fight against COVID-19, as weekly case counts have fallen around 89% from the peak numbers seen during this summer’s deadly surge.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have each seen around a 89% reduction in cases when comparing this week’s numbers to the worst respective weeks in August, when COVID-19 cases hit their highs.

According to the newest weekly report from the Department of Health, Miami-Dade County recorded just 2,379 cases from Oct. 15-21. Broward had 1,560 cases, while Palm Beach saw 1,062 newly confirmed cases. Over the previous eight weeks, raw case counts have dropped by 23% per week on average in Palm Beach County, 22% in Broward and 20% in Miami-Dade.

Case positivity rates — which measure the share of tests coming back positive — dropped week-to-week in Broward and Palm Beach counties as well. Miami-Dade’s case positivity rate stayed the same as last week’s. That 2.2% is small as compared to several weeks during the summer when it sat after north of 12%.

The number of vaccine doses remained fairly constant week-to-week in each of South Florida’s three major counties. The number rose 5% in Broward while dropping just 3% in Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade saw just 16 fewer doses administered week-to-week.

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

Miami-Dade

— Oct. 1-7: 3,816 newly confirmed cases, 2.9% positivity rate, 15,191 vaccine doses administered, 92% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Oct. 8-14: 3,033 newly confirmed cases, 2.2% positivity rate, 13,233 vaccine doses administered, 93% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Oct. 15-21: 2,379 newly confirmed cases, 2.2% positivity rate, 13,217 vaccine doses administered, 93% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

Broward

— Oct. 1-7: 2,526 newly confirmed cases, 4.3% positivity rate, 7,636 vaccine doses administered, 82% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Oct. 8-14: 1,943 newly confirmed cases, 3.4% positivity rate, 6,485 vaccine doses administered, 82% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Oct. 15-21: 1,560 newly confirmed cases, 2.9% positivity rate, 6,833 vaccine doses administered, 82% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

Palm Beach

— Oct. 1-7: 1,744 newly confirmed cases, 5% positivity rate, 4,534 vaccine doses administered, 74% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Oct. 8-14: 1,430 newly confirmed cases, 4.1% positivity rate, 3,632 vaccine doses administered, 75% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated

— Oct. 15-21: 1,062 newly confirmed cases, 3.4% positivity rate, 3,536 vaccine doses administered, 75% of 12-and-up population now vaccinated