As the coronavirus pandemic balloons in Florida for the second major wave, there is an important difference between now and summer: it is less a specific problem in South Florida.
At their summer peaks, Miami and Fort Lauderdale recorded twice as many cases per capita as Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa.
The two provinces of the state, Miami-Dade and Broward, make up nearly a quarter of all Floridians. But in July, after cases exploded in and around Miami, hospitals in the region held 36 percent of all COVID-19 patients.
Per capita, they ranked second and third among all counties in Florida (after Baker, 28,000 population) in hospitalized patients (based on data since July 10 – Florida was one of the last states to have its current score of patients published in real time).
In the current increase in cases, the pandemic is occurring evenly in Florida. In all corners of the state, the number of cases and hospitalizations skyrocketing has skyrocketed, driving Florida to its summer peak levels.
As a result, Miami-Dade and Broward now have the same proportion of the sick in Florida as they are healthy.
The winter coronavirus wave is less concentrated in South Florida
Florida residents are now more likely than in the summer to live in a province with more hospitalizations per capita than the state as a whole.
South Florida’s hospital numbers have returned to about half of where they were at their peak. They are still increasing, but slower than those in the rest of the state.
However, hospitals in provinces like Duval, Pinellas and Polk are much closer to how it was this summer. Pasco County surpassed its peak in July, and the beds for intensive care units were more than 95 percent full from Monday to Thursday. Cases in Jacksonville zip codes are shooting up, faster than in any other major city.
In Hillsborough, hospitals are being “jointly strained” by limited staff because their burden is almost as severe as in July.
Across Central Florida, like the Orlando Sentinel reported, the positive percentage of the test most days was well above 10 percent, a clear sign that the virus is spreading out of control.
Cases are still increasing in the state, in all age groups. Long-term care centers counted more active cases among residents on Friday than on any day since September 1st.
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