COVID-19 positivity rates across Treasure Coast now range from 30% to 36%, hospital official says
The number of COVID-positive patients hospitalized at Cleveland Clinic hospitals on the Treasure Coast is down slightly from last week, but a top official stated “we are not where we would like to be yet in terms of hospitalizations or positivity rates.”
As of Monday, there were 193 COVID-positive patients hospitalized at Cleveland Clinic facilities in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, which compares to 199 on Jan. 18, according to information from Dr. Richard Rothman, institute chair of hospital medicine for the Cleveland Clinic Florida region.
“According to CDC data, we are seeing decreases in the positivity rates across the Treasure Coast, which now range from 30-36% in Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie counties,” Rothman stated via email. “This is encouraging news, though we are not where we would like to be yet in terms of hospitalizations or positivity rates.”
The 193 cases hospitalized Monday breaks down to: 77 COVID-19 patients at Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital in Stuart; 54 at Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital in Port St. Lucie; 57 at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital in Vero Beach; and five at Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital who were to be transferred to Martin North Hospital, Rothman stated.
Last week, Rothman reported fewer people with the omicron variant are requiring ICU care when compared to the “delta surge.”
“We are also seeing fewer people who require respiratory therapy, such as ventilators and high-flow oxygen, than we did in summer 2021,” Rothman said last week via e-mail.
Information about the vaccination status of hospitalized patients at the Treasure Coast Cleveland Clinic facilities wasn’t available.
The greatest number of COVID hospitalizations at Cleveland Clinic facilities on the Treasure Coast came Aug. 20 when there were 318 patients requiring hospitalization for COVID-19.
More recently, there were 61 COVID patients hospitalized Dec. 30 at Treasure Coast Cleveland Clinic facilities, and 14 hospitalized on Dec. 7 and Nov. 29.
In Florida
Florida reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Jan. 23, adding 282,520 new cases. That's down 30.9% from the previous week's tally of 408,841 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Florida ranked 37th 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 decreased 14.9% from the week before, with 4,770,122 cases reported. With 6.45% of the country's population, Florida had 5.92% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 27 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Many counties did not report data during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, disrupting the current and previous weeks' statistics. Week-to-week comparisons are skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.
Indian River County reported 1,923 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 2,254 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 29,036 cases.
Martin County reported 1,358 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 2,497 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 28,699 cases.
St. Lucie County reported 4,290 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 5,621 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 67,012 cases.
Across Florida, cases fell in 46 counties, with the best declines in Miami-Dade County, with 46,959 cases from 93,321 a week earlier; in Broward County, with 23,063 cases from 48,103; and in Orange County, with 18,738 cases from 30,752.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Vaccinations
Florida ranked 19th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 76.8% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 75.5%, 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 Sunday, Florida reported administering another 390,947 vaccine doses, including 226,645 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 382,770 vaccine doses, including 101,368 first doses. In all, Florida reported it has administered 35,086,747 total doses.
Within Florida, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Taylor County with 2,276 cases per 100,000 per week; Madison County with 2,233; and Jackson County with 2,146. 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 46,959 cases; Broward County, with 23,063 cases; and Orange County, with 18,738. Weekly case counts rose in 19 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Jackson, Santa Rosa and Baker counties.
Deaths
In Florida, 605 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 470 people were reported dead.
Florida does not directly publish county-level death data.
A total of 5,324,438 people in Florida have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 63,763 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows.
In the United States 70,700,678 people have tested positive and 866,540 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
Florida's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Jan. 23.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Last week: 14,873
The week before that: 16,789
Four weeks ago: 4,930
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Last week: 188,864
The week before that: 197,883
Four weeks ago: 99,261
Hospitals in 25 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 22 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds.
Hospitals in 30 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 Treasure Coast Newspapers: Treasure Coast, Florida new COVID-19 cases drop
