COVID cases decline in county, state
Palm Beach County reported 26,866 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, a week after tallying 29,147 cases. It was the second largest decline in the state.
Throughout the pandemic the county has reported 326,928 cases.
The county figures are part of the state numbers of 408,841 new cases, down 3.4% from the previous week. The previous week, 423,150 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19 were reported statewide.
Across Florida, cases fell in four counties, with the best declines in Miami-Dade County, with 93,321 cases from 110,441 a week earlier; in Palm Beach County, with 26,866 cases from 29,147; and in Broward County, with 48,103 cases from 50,254.
Florida ranked 11th 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 increased 5.8% from the week before, with 5,438,242 cases reported. With 6.45% of the country's population, Florida had 7.52% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 39 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 latest week's statistics. That data is being compared to a week with backlogged cases and deaths from the New Year's holiday weekend. Week-to-week comparisons are skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.
Martin County reported 2,497 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 2,267 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 27,341 cases.
Okeechobee County reported 831 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 596 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 9,166 cases.
Florida does not directly publish county-level death data.
Florida ranked 18th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 75.5% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 74.6%, 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 Wednesday, Florida reported administering another 495,312 vaccine doses, including 129,643 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 456,278 vaccine doses, including 116,996 first doses. In all, Florida reported it has administered 34,496,916 total doses.
Within Florida, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Miami-Dade County with 3,435 cases per 100,000 per week; Broward County with 2,463; and Alachua County with 2,427. The Centers for Disease Control says 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 93,321 cases; Broward County, with 48,103 cases; and Orange County, with 30,752. Weekly case counts rose in 63 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Duval, Brevard and Pinellas counties.
In Florida, 184 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 184 people were reported dead.
A total of 5,041,918 people in Florida have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 62,504 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 65,699,947 people have tested positive and 850,605 people have died.
Florida's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Jan. 16.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Last week: 16,971
The week before that: 15,986
Four weeks ago: 3,039
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Last week: 203,221
The week before that: 185,954
Four weeks ago: 90,739
Hospitals in 41 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 35 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 43 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.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach County COVID cases increased by 26,866 this week
