CDC: COVID risks rising in parts of Florida, masks urged again
Welcome to today's edition of the Florida Coronavirus Watch Newsletter, which comes out every Monday and Thursday or as urgent news dictates.
Florida COVID-19 data
Unlike most states which report coronavirus data directly to the public multiple times a week or daily, Florida reports every other week and then only for the previous seven days, skipping a week of data. State reports include only Florida residents and not visitors for cases and deaths, but do include visitors for vaccination numbers.
Subtracting the state's May 6 report from the May 20 one, we get:
New COVID-19 cases in the previous two weeks: 99,630
Total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began: 6,058,248 (6,101,783 per Johns Hopkins)
New COVID-19 deaths in the previous two weeks: 270
Total COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began: 74,330
Last week's testing positivity: State report: 13.4%, Johns Hopkins: 16.99%
State death counts from COVID-19 tend to get updated and revised so that number may not reflect actual deaths occurring in that time period.
In the latest week COVID-19 cases in Florida were about 4.6 times what the CDC says is a high level of community transmission. A Sunday report said the state had 2,034 COVID-19 patients in hospital beds, from 1,936 a week earlier.
Sources: Florida Department of Health COVID report, U.S. Health and Human Services (hospitalizations)
Here's what's happening
- Break out the masks again. The CDC recommends masking up in high-risk areas in Florida's urban areas as COVID cases continue to rise. COVID now poses a "medium" risk of straining health care systems in South Florida, including Palm Beach County; the Treasure Coast, Tampa Bay and the Sarasota area, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Public transport passengers should wear masks, as should people at severe risk of illness when indoors, the agency said.
Read about that and the latest numbers in the state here. Here's the link to the CDC's tracking map for Florida.
- In fact, some of Florida's high-risk areas are even worse than reported. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged Thursday in semi-hidden footnotes on its website that it should have classified Florida’s three biggest counties as places where COVID-19 poses a “high” risk to their healthcare systems.
If the CDC had correctly classified Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, the 6.2 million Floridians living in those places would have known that the spread of COVID had gotten so bad that the agency recommends they once again wear masks indoors. So far, some Palm Beach County cities aren't planning to reinstate mask requirements yet.
The Palm Beach Post has the story here.
- Pfizer says their COVID vaccine is safe and appears effective for children under 5. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech have been testing their COVID-19 vaccine in children under 5 since last year.
The study of nearly 1,700 young children ages 6 months to 5 years showed the vaccine to be as safe as a placebo and more than 80% protective during the omicron outbreak.
- Why do people get long COVID? A virus that may cause MS could reveal clues. In one pioneering study this January, researchers at Harvard found a causal link between Epstein-Barr virus (or EBV, which most people contract, and which gives a few unlucky individuals mononucleosis) and multiple sclerosis (MS), which may help determine why some people get long-haul XCOVID-19 while others do not. But don't expect immediate answers.
“We're expecting decades, decades of research on this,” said Elizabeth Jacobs, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Arizona.
- 'I physically can’t do it': For some, COVID-induced parosmia means facing the end of a career. Researchers say as many as 1.6 million people have olfactory disorders after contracting COVID-19. And as people head back into the office after years at home, those with smell disorders are struggling to handle a new wave of hideous smells that can make the workday impossible to handle.
“Everyone’s smell and their perfumes and just the smell of the building, it smells like dead animal, like roadkill,” said insurance claims adjuster CarrieAnn Young. “It makes it just impossible. I struggle at work. It’s so bad.”
USA Today has the story for its subscribers.
COVID info to know
COVID-19 will be an issue for a long time to come, and we think more education is better. Here's what you need to know.
ABOUT COVID
Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson vaccine booster shots: Things to know
Where and when can I get a booster/second booster in Florida?
This story is free for everyone: Compare the spread of COVID-19 in your area
AVOIDING COVID
Why N95, KN95 masks are so much more effective against omicron than cloth
Are N95 and KN95 masks reusable and how should you store them?
Can you avoid COVID if a member in your household has it? Ways to decrease your risk
Do I still need to wear a mask? What the new CDC COVID mask guidance means for Florida
TESTING
Is it the flu, a cold, or COVID-19? How to know, and when to get tested
What's the difference between at-home tests, over-the-counter rapid tests, and PCR tests?
DO YOU HAVE COVID?
Were you exposed to coronavirus? Did you test positive? If so, here's what to do next
Long COVID: Why aren't my symptoms going away? Why did they come back? Am I a long-hauler?
What do you want to know about COVID-19? You ask, we'll try to answer
From a reader: "Expired at home tests - should I discard them?"
Not necessarily. The FDA does not recommend using expired tests as they may no longer be as accurate, but sometimes expiration dates for expired tests may be extended if the test manufacturer has done stability tests for longer periods and asked the FDA to authorize a longer shelf-life. Usually, the manufacturer will contact buyers to let them know when that happens, but if you bought yours from a third-party retailer you may not hear about it.
You can check the expiration dates for your tests here to see if they've been extended.
Anything you'd like to know? Ask your questions here.
Thank you for reading! We appreciate you trusting our statewide journalists to keep you safe and informed. If you are encouraged by our work and want to support your local journalists, please consider subscribing. Know someone who would benefit from this newsletter? Forward this email so they can sign up.
Chris' note of the day: Did COVID finally kill neckties? Dr. Shyam Paryani, MD., a health administration professor at the University of North Florida, talks about how the pandemic has pushed healthcare professionals away from coats and ties and into scrubs more of the time. And people who have gotten accustomed to working from home are coming back to the workforce with a somewhat relaxed attitude. Since I haven't worn a collared shirt in over two years, I empathize. What do you think?
Here's what else is happening with the coronavirus in Florida today.
— C. A. Bridges, cbridges@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: CDC: COVID risks rising in parts of Florida, masks urged again
