Florida reports over 19,000 new cases of coronavirus while state waits for more vaccines

Florida reports over 19,000 new cases of coronavirus while state waits for more vaccines

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida saw its highest recorded number of new cases in 2021 on Thursday, after the Florida Department of Health reported nearly 20,000 new cases of COVID-19.

As cases continue to increase, Floridians are eager to receive a vaccine as soon as possible.

Vaccines continue to enter the arms of Florida residents across the state. As more doses expire, Governor Ron DeSantis called on churches and other places to start administering vaccines.

DeSantis announced changes to the state’s vaccine distribution plan on Monday, saying hospitals should use their vaccines as soon as possible and partnering with worship centers to help distribute the vaccine. The governor did not mention Publix during two press conferences on Monday, but on Tuesday, DeSantis made the announcement for a Publix supermarket in Ocala.

According to Publix.com, a limited number of vaccines are “on their way to select Publix pharmacies in Citrus, Hernando and Marion counties”.

According to the website, 11 Marion County locations, eight Hernando County stores and three Citrus County locations will offer the injections.

SEE MORE INFORMATION: Selected Publix drugstore locations will offer coronavirus vaccines in Florida

DeSantis gave several press conferences on Thursday and said more vaccines are on the way.

The governor said Florida should receive about 250,000 new doses of the COVID-19 vaccine next week, which will be split roughly in half between doses of Moderna and Pfizer.

[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports 17,000 new coronavirus cases, 130 new deaths]

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 19,473 new cases on Thursday, bringing the state’s grand total to 1,429,722 cases since March.

Deaths

Florida reported 170 new virus-related deaths Thursday. This means that at least 22,817 people have died from coronavirus across the state, including 336 non-residents who died in Florida.

Hospitalizations

As of Thursday, there were currently 7,335 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Health Administration Agency.

Since March, 64,704 people were hospitalized in Florida after coronavirus complications. That number includes 383 recently hospitalized because of the virus, reports the health department’s diary.

Positive rate

The percentage of positive results ranged from 8.03% to 23.28% in the last two weeks and was 11.60% on Wednesday.

Health officials say the rate should remain between 5% and 10% to prove that a community contains the virus and is reducing infections.

Vaccines

The Florida Department of Health recently started releasing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered across the state. As of Thursday afternoon, 384,223 people had been vaccinated in Florida.

See COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region below:

County Cases New cases Hospitalizations New hospitalizations Deaths New Deaths
Brevard 23,103 434 1,503 20 535 9
Flagler 4,154 75 243 4 48 0
Lake 17,228 331 1,002 6 331 0
Marion 19,585 386 1,387 11 496 1
orange 83,462 1,307 2,016 10 777 1
Osceola 27,569 456 1,110 7 305 8
Polk 40,983 622 3,403 14 821 7
Seminole 19,803 264 930 5 319 two
Sumter 5,720 86 392 4 122 0
Volusia 24,553 348 1,307 11 460 two

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