Leon County's COVID cases fall, hospitalizations continue slow climb
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Following the trend of many states including Florida, Leon County's COVID-19 cases are beginning to fall, however, hospitalizations are continuing to climb at a slow pace.
As of Monday morning, there were 160 people with COVID-19 hospitalized in the capital city and county. Health workers at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) were treating 97, while Capital Regional Medical Center (CRMC) had 63 infected patients.
A week prior, there were 143 COVID-positive patients between Tallahassee's two hospitals.
Of TMH's 97 patients, 33 are vaccinated and 63% are considered "incidental," meaning they were hospitalized for other illness and injuries and happened to test positive for the virus.
Since the new year, there have been 17 COVID-related deaths in Tallahassee hospitals; eight in TMH and nine in CRMC. In December, TMH reported six deaths and CRMC reported four.
COVID in Florida: COVID cases fall as Florida ranks 37 (from No. 11) on list where coronavirus spreads fastest
Leon County Schools
On Monday, Leon County Schools reported 1,115 self-reported COVID cases among students within the past 14 days. Last Tuesday, that number was 893.
Leon High School had the most self-reported positive cases with 111 followed by Lincoln High School with 100 and Lawton Chiles High School with 97.
Gilchrist Elementary School had 15 staff who have self-reported a positive COVID case in the past 14 days, the most out of any school in the district.
The district is in the midst of a substitute teacher shortage that's being exacerbated by the latest wave of COVID-19. There were 229 requests for substitute teachers for Friday alone — which is about 10% of the 2,241 teachers employed by the district.
COVID in school:Sick teachers, shortage of subs straining Leon County Schools amid COVID surge
Leon County Detention Facility
The Leon County Detention Facility remains under a "COVID lockdown mode" that went into effect Thursday, Jan. 13.
As of Monday afternoon, 169 inmates and 26 detention staff are infected with the virus. These cases are spread "throughout the entire facility" including all eight pods, which are areas of the jail holding between 30 to 90 inmates, according to spokeswoman Angela Green.
Under the lockdown inmates are restricted to their cells except for showers, exercise, doctor visits and other activities.
Green said all infected inmates and staff have "soft symptoms," which essentially match those of the common cold. She added that none have been hospitalized.
'COVID lockdown mode': Over 150 inmates, 38 workers positive in Leon County jail
Cases statewide
Florida reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, 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.
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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 during data during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, disrupting the current and previous weeks' statistics. Week-to-week comparisons are skewed and these numbers may be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.
Local breakdown
Leon County reported 5,431 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 6,221 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 74,880 cases.
Gadsden County reported 616 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 859 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 11,858 cases.
Wakulla County reported 661 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 622 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 8,534 cases.
Jefferson County reported 277 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 304 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 3,422 cases.
Franklin County reported 136 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 177 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 2,704 cases.
Jackson County reported 996 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 740 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 12,792 cases.
Florida does not directly publish county-level death data.
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
Vaccines
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.
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.
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.
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 Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County COVID cases begin to fall; hospitalizations remain high
