Florida's Seven-Day COVID Case Average Spikes 800 Percent in One Month
Over the past month, Florida's seven-day average number of COVID-19 cases has spiked by a large percentage, as the state has seen a surge of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of August 1, Florida was reporting a seven-day average of new cases of 17,024, but this number was far lower just a month ago.
As of July 1, Florida's seven-day average number of cases was 1,839, which indicates over an 800 percent increase over the past month.
Florida has continued to see a surge of new COVID-19 cases over the past month and has recently broken several records that were set much earlier in the pandemic. On Friday, Florida reported 21,683 new COVID-19 cases, which was the highest single-day number since the start of the pandemic.
The state also recently reported a record 11,515 COVID-19 hospitalizations, surpassing a previous record of 10,207 which was set earlier this month. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows that around 23 percent of all hospital beds in Florida are occupied by COVID-19 patients, which is the highest percentage across the U.S.
According to White House Pandemic Response Coordinator Jeff Zients, Florida and Texas now account for at least one-third of newly reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
Amid the surge of new cases and the COVID-19 Delta variant, health officials have continued to stress the importance of vaccines, but Florida is one of the many states to have less than half its population fully vaccinated.
In Florida, data from the CDC shows that around 58.4 percent of residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 49.1 percent are considered fully vaccinated.
Some other states across the U.S. have also seen a rise in COVID-19 cases, prompting elected officials to reimpose mitigation efforts, such as mask mandates, but in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has continued to oppose such a measure.
DeSantis previously signed an executive order prohibiting local governments in the state from imposing mask mandates or requiring proof of vaccine and during a recent press conference he said that the state has no plans to shut down again.
"We are not shutting down," DeSantis said on Tuesday. "We are going to have schools open. We are protecting every Floridian's job in this state. We are protecting people's small businesses. These interventions have failed time and time again throughout this pandemic, not just in the United States but abroad. They have not stopped the spread, particularly with Delta."
Newsweek reached out to the Florida Department of Health for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
