Four 'stealth omicron' cases found in Florida as COVID-19 deaths surpass 1,000 for second week
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
At least four cases of the so-called "stealth omicron" variant have been discovered in Florida as the state's death toll increased by 1,000 for the second time in as many weeks.
Two people's test results in Miami-Dade County confirmed the presence of a new mutation of omicron, according to a statement released Friday afternoon by Premier Medical Laboratory Services. The lab did not immediately provide more information about the infected people.
Helix Laboratories confirmed two cases earlier this week discovered in Florida. Two people, a 69-year-old woman and 32-year-old man, caught the mutation in January, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Tuesday.
The sublineage, known scientifically as BA.2, is harder for PCR tests to detect than the omicron variant, B.1.1.529.
Surge of deaths continues as omicron retreats
As the main omicron wave subsides statewide, a surge of deaths is following. Florida health officials on Friday logged 1,324 more COVID-19 fatalities since Jan. 28.
Florida's COVID-19 death toll stands at 66,279 residents, the state Health Department said Friday. That includes at least 4,651 in Palm Beach County, the National Center for Health Statistics reported Wednesday. State health officials in June stopped publishing county death tolls and fatalities among nonresidents who tested positive here.
U.S. surpasses 900,000 COVID deaths: 'Stealth omicron' slightly more infectious: COVID updates
COVID testing FAQs: Your guide to home, over-the-counter antigen and molecular test kits
Can I use an expired COVID at-home test? Yes, you can use your expired COVID test kit — but first check with the FDA, manufacturer
Deaths can take weeks to enter official state statistics. During the summertime delta mutation surge, weekly deaths skyrocketed for four to six weeks after weekly new infections peaked in mid-to-late August.
Omicron appears to have peaked three weeks ago, when state health officials added 429,311 new cases Jan. 7 to 14.
Nearly 132,000 new infections this week
Florida logged 131,699 new infections among residents this week, still far higher than the sums of about 10,000 a week in November.
At least 5,610,370 COVID cases have been recorded statewide since the start of the pandemic, including 353,799 in Palm Beach County.
More than 1 million of Florida's came during the past four weeks.
Official caseload counts miss many infections because of the shortage of tests available at public sites and the rise of at-home tests. People may not submit their home test results to health officials.
About 18% of COVID-19 tests statewide came back positive, down from 31% four weeks ago, but still far higher than the sub-3% levels recorded before omicron engulfed Florida.
In Palm Beach County, testing positivity slid to 15.1%, down from 34%.
Meanwhile, COVID- hospitalizations continue to plunge statewide from mid-January highs as fast as they surged.
Medical staff tended to 7,729 COVID-positive patients, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department reported Friday, down from more than 11,000 from Jan. 12 to 20.
And 1,272 adults with the deadly respiratory disease remained sick in intensive care units, down from more than 1,600 last month.
The omicron mutation has been shown to be milder than the delta strain that ravaged Florida over the summer. And more residents statewide are vaccinated now compared with six months ago. Back then, more than 17,000 hospital patients had the virus, including more than 3,700 in ICUs.
COVID vaccinations appear to have spiked last week. State health officials logged 134,020 more people received shots against the mostly preventable disease.
The state says 15,325,335 residents have been vaccinated so far, including 4,928,475 with boosters.
At least 74% of eligible residents ages 5 and older have gotten shots of the free, safe and effective vaccines.
In Palm Beach County, 1,070,322 residents are at least partially inoculated, covering 76% of the eligible population.
Chris Persaud is The Palm Beach Post's data reporter
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Stealth omicron cases in Florida, as weekly COVID deaths increase
