COVID-19 in Ocala/Marion schools: 41 new cases reported during week ending May 13
The number of new COVID-19 cases in Marion County Public Schools increased to 41 for the week ending May 13, up from 27 during the previous week, though still far below the record 1,014 omicron cases in January.
The total for seven days was seven for the week ending April 22, nine for April 9-15 and six for April 2-8.
The district has seen a vast overall decline in cases since January. There were 513 for Jan. 29-Feb. 4, and the one-week record for school cases was 1,014 for Jan. 15-21.
April 30-May 6:27 new cases reported for week ending May 6
April 23-29: 11 for week ending April 29
April 16-22: Seven new cases for week ending April 22
The latest school report showed that 32 students and nine employees tested positive for COVID-19 during the week ending May 13. The number of people placed in quarantine increased to 172 (154 students and 18 employees) for the same period. The total was 104 for the week ending May 6, 28 for April 23-29 and 20 for April 16-22.
To put the low quarantine numbers in perspective, the total was 1,766 for Jan. 22-28, 1,843 for Jan. 15-21 and 2,219 for Jan. 8-14.
The record for weekly quarantines, which was set during the Delta wave in Marion County schools, was 3,404 in mid-August 2021.
The latest numbers for all of Marion County
For all of Marion County, 516 cases were recorded for April 22-May 5, up from 280 cases for April 8-21, 160 for March 25-April 7 and 123 for March 11-24. The state now releases case numbers every two weeks, with the next report due May 20.
The Marion County weekly record of 5,536 cases was reported for Jan. 7-13, just a month after the total was 146 for Dec. 3-9. The total number of Marion residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 is now 84,120.
Marion County hospitalizations increased to 20 in the past week
Marion County's seven-day total of new COVID-19 hospitalizations was 20 on Monday, up from 13 on May 9 and 18 on May 2. The number was 13 on April 25 and 11 on April 18, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Last fall, during a spike attributed to the delta variant, the record hit 350. In the past two weeks, the CDC reported that fewer than 10 Marion residents were added to the death toll from COVID-19. The total number of Marion deaths is about 2,100.
The seven-day positivity rate for Marion County was 10.95% on Monday, up from 9.81% on May 9, 6.27% on May 2, 4.85% on April 20, and 2.69% on April 11.
Mark Lander, head of the Florida Department of Health in Marion County, said last week that the latest increase may reflect the "seasonal ebb and flow" that the community has seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Thankfully, our numbers are still down significantly compared to the omicron spike at the beginning of the year," Lander noted last week.
Local vaccine statistics
As of May 16, 236,320 Marion County residents have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, up 291 when compared to May 9. Of those, 97,673 had both shots and a booster, 416 more than a week ago, according to state data.
The CDC report shows that on May 16, 74.3% of Marion residents ages 18 and older have had at least one dose of the vaccine, while 72.3% of Marion residents ages 12 and older, and 68% of residents ages 5 and older have had at least one dose.
Meanwhile, 91.8% of residents ages 65 and older have had at least one dose as of May 16. The data shows that 64.6% of Marion's entire population has had at least one dose.
— Contact Joe Callahan at (352) 817-1750 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala, Florida schools had 41 new COVID cases for week ending May 13
