Bay County maintains high rate of new COVID-19 cases, Florida sees 30.9% drop

Mike Stucka
·4 min read

BAY COUNTY — Bay County reported a flat but still relatively high number of new COVID-19 cases last week, maintaining a month-long surge in infections.

According to the latest state statistics, the county reported 2,770 new COVID-19 cases last week ending Sunday. A week earlier, the county reported 2,667 new cases and 1,482 cases three weeks ago. The county reported 702 cases four weeks earlier.

Throughout the pandemic, the county has reported a total of 40,734 cases.

Florida reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 282,520 new cases. That's down 30.9% from the previous week's tally of 408,841 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

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Florida ranked 37th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week, coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 14.9% from the week before, with 4,770,122 cases reported. With 6.45% of the country's population, Florida had 5.92% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 27 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Many counties did not report during data during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, disrupting the current and previous weeks' statistics. Week-to-week comparisons are skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.

Gulf County reported 258 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 271 cases. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 3,739 cases.

Washington County reported 485 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 439 cases. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 5,831 cases.

Florida does not directly publish county-level death data.

Across Florida, cases fell in 46 counties, with the best declines in Miami-Dade County, with 46,959 cases from 93,321 a week earlier; in Broward County, with 23,063 cases from 48,103; and in Orange County, with 18,738 cases from 30,752.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Florida ranked 19th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 76.8% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 75.5%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Sunday, Florida reported administering another 390,947 vaccine doses, including 226,645 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 382,770 vaccine doses, including 101,368 first doses. In all, Florida reported it has administered 35,086,747 total doses.

Within Florida, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Taylor County with 2,276 cases per 100,000 per week; Madison County with 2,233; and Jackson County with 2,146. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Miami-Dade County, with 46,959 cases; Broward County, with 23,063 cases; and Orange County, with 18,738. Weekly case counts rose in 19 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Jackson, Santa Rosa and Baker counties.

In Florida, 605 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 470 people were reported dead.

A total of 5,324,438 people in Florida have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 63,763 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 70,700,678 people have tested positive and 866,540 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Florida's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Jan. 23.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 14,873

  • The week before that: 16,789

  • Four weeks ago: 4,930

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 188,864

  • The week before that: 197,883

  • Four weeks ago: 99,261

Hospitals in 25 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 22 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 30 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: COVID-19 Florida: Bay County maintains high rate of cases