COVID positivity rate for Polk County rises to 10.9%, highest since early September

Gary White, The Ledger
·2 min read
The Florida Department of Health reported 730 new confirmed cases for Polk County in Friday’s biweekly update, an increase of 5% from two weeks earlier. The county had been trending downward in the previous report.

COVID-19 infections in Polk County continue to rise.

The Florida Department of Health reported 780 new cases for the county from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15 in a biweekly update released late Friday afternoon. That indicated a rise of 18% and followed a jump of nearly 50% in the previous report.

Previously:Polk County COVID-19 cases jumped 48.9% in latest report. Positivity remains low

Also:Polk County surpasses Florida averages for childhood vaccination rates, health department reports

Polk County’s positivity rate also rose to 10.9% from 9.5% two weeks earlier. The rate hadn’t been above 10% since early September.

The positivity rate surged above 20% over the summer but had gradually dropped since August before the recent upward trend began. The rate is based on test results reported to the Department of Health and doesn’t include presumed infections found through home testing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to list Polk County as low for community levels of COVID-19. As of Friday afternoon, the federal agency rated 18 of Florida’s 67 counties with medium community levels, including Osceola County, which borders Polk.

The CDC’s COVID Tracker website reported fewer than 10 COVID-related deaths for Polk County in the seven-day period ending Wednesday. Deaths are a lagging indicator, and there can be long delays in having deaths officially recorded.

The Department of Health reported 22,572 new infections statewide, an increase of 20.3% from two weeks earlier. Florida’s positivity rate rose from 11.4% to 13.1%.

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The agency registered 405 new deaths in Friday’s update and listed the cumulative death toll at 83,606. The department does not report deaths by county of residence.

Hospitals in Polk County admitted an estimated 52 patients with confirmed infections in the week ending Wednesday, according to the CDC, an increase of 32.6% from the previous seven-day period.

Patients with COVID occupied 2.4% of staffed beds and 1.9% of beds in intensive-care units, the CDC reported.

Among Polk County residents age 5 and older, 63% have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, according to the Department of Health’s update.

The CDC dashboard shows 62.7% of Polk residents as having completing a primary series of vaccinations. Only 7.6% had received the latest booster dose, the agency reported.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk's COVID positivity rate exceeds 10% for 1st time since September