With subvariants of the coronavirus spreading, the number of Florida hospital inpatients with COVID-19 continues to increase.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released data Wednesday showing that 4,481 Florida inpatients had COVID-19, up from 4,322 a week earlier.
The data also showed that 460 Florida patients with COVID-19 were in intensive-care units, up from 437 a week earlier.
Health officials across the country have pointed to subvariants known as BA.4 and BA.5 for increasing the number of people infected with the coronavirus, which has now become the dominant strain among new U.S cases.
The Florida Department of Health released numbers Friday that showed the state had a reported 78,245 new cases of COVID-19 from July 8 through July 14.
Nearly every county in Florida is under the “high” community level of COVID-19 case transmission as of July July 13.
That’s according to the COVID-19 Community Level metrics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which are updated each Thursday.
Hospitalizations and case counts have grown so much that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends indoor masking in almost every part of Florida to prevent strain on local medical facilities.
There are a few big exceptions, such as Collier County — home to Naples — along with Glades and Flagler counties, and parts of the western Panhandle.
Florida had topped 60,000 new cases in nine straight weeks and had topped 70,000 cases in six of the weeks, according to the Department of Health numbers.
According to usafact.org, Duval County has the highest 7-day average for new cases with 861.
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Tuesday that the increased hospitalizations — including an uptick in the number of COVID-19 patients who wind up in intensive care units — likely reflected a big rise in the number of unreported infections.
Information to the percent of hospital beds occupied and hospital capacity per county can be found HERE.
These are the recommendations from the CDC when your county has a high level of transmission:
- Wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation.
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Get tested if you have symptoms.
- If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions.
Here are the CDC’s recommended actions if your county has a medium level of transmission:
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Get tested if you have symptoms.
- Wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19. Wear a mask on public transportation. You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others.
- If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider wearing a mask indoors in public and taking additional precautions.
Cities, counties and schools in Florida cannot enforce indoor mask requirements because of executive orders and laws Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last year.
The DeSantis administration used to regularly send coronavirus variant reports to a consortium of news outlets showing the share of cases and deaths in each county, along with infected people’s age, gender, race, ethnicity, and their recent travel history.
More than two months have passed since the state’s last report.
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