Florida averages over 15,780 cases per day as delta variant continues to fuel the outbreak

ORLANDO, Florida – As more is learned about the delta variant of COVID-19 fueling rapid spread of cases in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidelines on masks for people vaccinated in indoor spaces and the recommended use of masks in schools.

CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said that with the earlier variants, people vaccinated had low levels of the virus and were less likely to spread the virus. The delta variant is more transmissible and, according to Walensky, the level of virus in infected vaccinated people is “indistinguishable” from the level of virus in unvaccinated people.

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In an internal CDC document – first reported by The Washington Post – data shows that fully vaccinated people could spread the delta variant at the same rate as unvaccinated people and that the variant appears to spread as easily as chickenpox. , urging officials to “recognize the war has changed.” The CDC updated its mask guidelines and COVID-19 testing guidelines on Tuesday, asking anyone – regardless of vaccination status – to get tested if exposed to someone who tests positive.

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As hospital systems experience an increase in hospitalizations due to the virus, many are limiting elective surgeries in an attempt to free up space and lessen the impact on staff. AdventHealth has been elevated to “black” status, which means authorities will postpone elective surgeries at hospitals in Central Florida’s Central Division.

“What is extraordinary is the speed at which we are currently seeing new cases and unfortunately at the moment the slope is quite steep and we have not seen the end of it, it always happens”, executive director of the infection prevention and hospital epidemiologist Dr. said Vincent Hsu.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings on Wednesday signed an executive order declaring a local state of emergency, urging residents and visitors to wear masks in indoor spaces and issuing an internal audit demanding that county employees be vaccinated before September 30. Businesses, including Disney World, have been urged to encourage employees to get vaccinated and to require that guests wear masks.

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Starting Friday, Disney World is requiring guests to wear masks indoors, whether or not they are vaccinated. Theme park officials said masks remain optional while guests are outside. At Universal Studios, team members will be required to wear masks in and near guests starting Saturday.

[READ THE LAST COVID-19 REPORT: Florida averages nearly 10,500 cases per day amid increasing hospitalizations ]

Below is a breakdown of Florida’s COVID-19 data reported by the state on July 30.

Case

The Florida Department of Health reported 110,477 new cases on Friday that occurred over the past week, bringing the state’s overall total to 2,590,699 cases since the virus was first detected on March 1, 2020. That’s an average of 15,782 new infections reported per day. This is the highest daily average over a 7-day period in the state of Florida since the start of the pandemic.

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Deaths

Florida reported 108 new virus-related deaths on Friday last week, but the cumulative death toll of 39,079 actually shows that there were 409 new deaths added to the state total. The state has not provided any information as to the date of these deaths.

The state has stopped reporting the number of non-residents who died in Florida with its new weekly reporting method.

Hospitalizations

The State Agency for Health Care Administration has removed its current database of COVID-19 hospitalizations and the state no longer reports the number of patients hospitalized with the virus. However, Florida is still required to report this information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the CDC continues to post this information online. The most recent hospital numbers are below:

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Positivity rate

The DOH reported that the percentage of positive coronavirus test results was 18.1% but did not provide how many people have been tested in the past week. Health officials say the rate should stay between 5% and 10% to prove that a community has a grip on the virus and is curbing infections.

Vaccination

The Florida Department of Health began publishing a daily report in December 2020 on COVID-19 vaccines administered statewide. In the new weekly reports, the state combines vaccination data with COVID-19 infection numbers.

FDOH reports 10 046 576 people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. These people either received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as a single dose or completed a series of two injections.

Over the past week, 98,696 new people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

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Central Florida Region

The state no longer provides a county-by-county breakdown of deaths or hospitalizations as of June 3. The Florida DOH also no longer provides county numbers for non-residents who have tested positive, drastically dropping the total number of cases. in some counties by more than 1,000 cases.

For example, with positive non-resident cases as of June 3, Orange County had reported a total of 143,198, but with the state’s new reporting method, the county has 141,941 cases in total, or a difference of 1,257 positive cases.

Below is the breakdown of new cases and new vaccination numbers in the Central Florida area between July 23 and July 29, 2021.

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