COVID BA.5 wave still receding across Florida more than a week into school year

For the second week in a row, all signs show the latest coronavirus surge shrinking across Florida, even as the school year starts and the least vaccinated age groups bunch together in classes.

Sewage across Florida, which can predict COVID-19 trends faster than regular testing, showed falling concentrations of the virus this past week. Health officials reported fewer positive coronavirus test results, while hospitals are treating fewer infected patients.

The number of viral particles found in wastewater continues to drop since mid-July in samples tested this past week from Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Orange and Seminole counties. Water treatment facilities in those counties send sewage samples to Boston-based laboratory, Biobot Analytics, for testing.

COVID measures at school: COVID policies to LGBTQ law: 8 things to know as Palm Beach County goes back to school

Antivirals: Why the main antiviral medicine for COVID may be underused

'Ninja' variant: The BA.5 COVID-19 variant is now dominant in Florida. What that means, and what to do

Wastewater can reveal COVID trends faster than official case counts. Infected people often shed the most virus at the beginning of their infection. Sewage testing can give the public and health officials a five- to 10-day lead on the prevalence of new clinical cases.

Hospitals tended to about 3,539 COVID-positive patients Friday, the fewest since June 27, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows.

New COVID infections back on par with caseloads before the BA.5 surge

Health officials logged more than 45,000 new infections this past week statewide, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. That's on par with caseloads from mid-May, before the latest viral surge fueled by the BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus omicron mutation.

To avoid straining hospitals, the CDC still recommends masking indoors in 45 Florida counties, down from 64 last week.

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.

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.

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?

Statewide 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.

Chris Persaud is The Palm Beach Post's data reporter. Email him at cpersaud@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida COVID BA.5 wave still receding as kids get back to school