COVID-19 cases fall, but still high
Haley Hinds reported
TAMPA, Fla. – Over the past few weeks, the number of daily new cases of COVID-19 in Florida and nationwide has decreased.
This may be a sign that we’re past the predicted recovery after the holidays, but two other important indicators being monitored by doctors are hospitalizations and deaths related to the virus. Although it is also lower, experts say the numbers are still not low enough to let our guards down.
On Monday, the Florida Department of Health reported 3,787 new cases of COVID-19. This follows a steady decline from just two weeks ago on February 1, when we saw more than 10,000 new cases.
“The decline is real,” said Dr. Marissa Levine, a professor of public health at USF. “The exact numbers are probably not that useful, because what we’ve seen is a decrease in testing and therefore we may not see all the cases that are there.”
But what Dr. Levine tells us is see is a decrease in hospitalizations and deaths associated with COVID-19, the main indicators of what is really going on. State data also show that visits to emergencies have declined since the beginning of 2021.
“I would warn everyone that we are still at a fairly high level of disease in the community and even being admitted to the hospital,” Levine said. “We are still seeing a significant number of deaths due to COVID.”
Ashley Moody, Florida’s attorney general, said while tackling vaccination fraud: “Florida is turning around with vaccinations that exceed infections. This is good news, but it would be a mistake to let your guard down now. “
To date, nearly 2.4 million Floridians have received their first dose of the vaccine. 1.1 million received their second dose.
“In Florida, we only vaccinated about 11%, maybe a little more of our population, so none of us think that alone is the main driver,” Levine said. “It could start to show greater and greater impact as the number of people vaccinated increases. That will be a factor. It will not be a big factor immediately.”
While Florida leads the country with 379 COVID-19 cases related to the British variant, the next few weeks will be critical to see if this decline continues, especially after major Super Bowl celebrations.
“Unfortunately, we are still seeing very high numbers,” Levine said. ‘These numbers look good now, but it will not look good if we talk about the end of spring, early in the summer before the second big wave.
Although many factors play a role here, dr. Levine said we’re deteriorating, and that’s good news. We can keep it going, but it requires us to do our parts individually and collectively.