Polk County sees first drop in COVID cases in 8 weeks; Total cases, positivity rate remain high
It appears that Polk County and Florida may have passed the peak of the omicron surge.
Polk County recorded 10,837 new COVID-19 infections for the week ending Thursday, down 27% from a week earlier. The weekly update from the Florida Department of Health ended a seven-week stretch of rising cases.
Statewide, the update showed a decline of 32.8% in new infections from the prior week.
Polk County’s positivity rate declined for the second consecutive week, dropping from 32.6% to 30.7%. That is still an unusually high figure. The positivity rate had never exceeded 30% before the latest wave, which began in November, fueled by the emergence of the omicron variant.
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The official totals don’t include infections detected through home tests and not disclosed to health authorities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Tracker on Friday listed Polk County’s positivity rate even higher, at 35.98%. The federal agency describes the community transmission rate as high for Polk and all other Florida counties, meaning more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents.
The CDC reports Polk County’s current prevalence as 2,047 cases per 100,000 residents, an increase of 18.5% from a week earlier.
The CDC reported 598 new COVID-related hospitalizations for Polk County in the past week. That marked a rise of 7.9% from the previous Friday.
Vaccinations among Polk County residents dropped 30.6% after rising slightly the previous week. The state reported that 1,944 vaccine doses were dispensed in Polk County for the week ending Thursday. The figure includes first doses as well as booster inoculations.
The Department of Health reports that 65% of eligible Polk County residents (those age 5 and older) have received at least one dose of a vaccine. That ranks below the statewide average of 73%.
The CDC website records 68% of Polk County residents as at least partially vaccinated and 58.2% as fully vaccinated, defined as having received an initial two-dose regimen of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of Johnson & Johnson. The CDC now recommends supplementary doses five months after the initial round of vaccinations.
The Department of Health report indicated that 19% in the 5-through-11 age group had received at least one vaccination. The rate increased through age groups to a high of 91% for those 65 and older.
The state tallied 289,204 new infections in the update. The positivity rate for Florida residents was 26.8%, down from 29.3% a week earlier.
The Department of Health registered 605 more COVID-related deaths for Florida, a jump of 28.7%. The cumulative death total for the state is 63,763.
Deaths are a lagging indicator and sometimes aren’t recorded for weeks or even months after they occur.
The CDC registered 13 COVID-related deaths for Polk County in the week ending Wednesday.
Polk County had incurred 2,560 cumulative deaths through Jan. 13, according to a website maintained by Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology for the USF Health College of Public Health. The Florida Department of Health stopped reporting deaths by county in June.
In a weekly update Monday, Lakeland Regional Health disclosed that 224 patients in its medical center were positive for COVID-19. Of those, 140 had not been vaccinated, LRH said.
The hospital had 16 COVID patients in intensive care, 14 of whom were unvaccinated. Of the 11 patients on mechanical ventilators, nine had not received vaccinations, LRH said.
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: COVID-19 in Polk: County records first weekly drop in cases in 8 weeks
