For the second week in a row, all signs show that the latest coronavirus surge is shrinking across Florida, even as the school year begins and less-vaccinated age groups group closer together in classes. Now an atmosphere of peace is visible here, now the danger of corona virus has reduced a lot.
Sewage across Florida, which can predict COVID-19 trends faster than routine testing, showed falling concentrations of the virus last week. Health officials reported fewer positive coronavirus test results, while hospitals are treating fewer infected patients. And good facilities are being provided to them.
The number of viral particles found in wastewater continues to decline since mid-July in samples tested last week from Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Hillsboro, Pinellas, Orange and Seminole counties. Water treatment facilities in those counties send sewage samples to Biobot Analytics, a Boston-based laboratory, for testing.
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Wastewater can reveal COVID trends faster than official cases. Infected people often shed most of the virus at the beginning of their infection. Sewage testing could give public and health officials a lead of five to 10 days on the spread of new clinical cases.
There were about 3,539 COVID positive patients in hospitals on Friday, the lowest since June 27, data from the US Department of Health and Human Services showed.
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Big News! New COVID infections back on par with caseloads before the BA.5 surge
Health officials recorded more than 45,000 new infections across the state last week, the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday. This equates to caseloads since mid-May, before the latest viral surge was fueled by the BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus oomicron mutation.
To avoid stressful hospitalizations, the CDC still recommends wearing masks indoors in 45 Florida counties, up from 64 last week.
So that you can keep your physical body completely safe
The CDC-reported Florida COVID: The CDC-reported Florida COVID death toll increased by 458 people since state health officials released their latest biweekly pandemic report Aug. 12. Fatalities can take weeks to enter official statistics.
Deaths is Higher than the Weekly: The number of new deaths is higher than the weekly sums logged in April, which was between the original omicron wave and the ones caused by its subvariants. But it’s lower than what was logged during the surge peaks of the omicron and delta variants, which saw the state’s death toll rise by more than 1,000 weekly.
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You Must know
- Do I still need to wear a mask?: What the new CDC COVID mask guidance means for Florida
- Tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution: How many people have been vaccinated in the US?
- State wide immunization levels have barely budged over the past few months.
- The CDC estimates 81% of Florida residents have gotten at least one vaccine dose, including 28% with boosters.
- While the CDC says 17.3 million Floridians are at least partially immunized, state health officials said Aug. 12 that number is more than 15.9 million. Part of this discrepancy is because the CDC counts federal personnel, such as military personnel stationed in the state, but the state Health Department does not.
- Less than 2% of Florida children younger than 5 are vaccinated. The same is true for 27% of kids ages 5 to 11.
- COVID has infected more than 6.9 million residents statewide and killed at least 79,017 residents. That excludes more than 3,000 victims state auditors found by combing through records from 2020 where physicians classified someone’s cause of death as COVID, but the state Health Department did not.
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