coronavirus deaths

The WHO chief remains optimistic but urges caution, noting that testing and sequencing rates remain low, vaccination gaps between rich and poor countries are still wide, and new variants continue to proliferate.

The virus became the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and caused so many to die in the prime of life that the country experienced the biggest drop in life expectancy since World War II.

The positivity rate for new cases in Florida dropped to 3.3% from 5.6% a week earlier.

The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 continues to drop, but the number of deaths recorded remains stubbornly high.

The state hasn't reported this many COVID-19 deaths in one week since the week ending Oct. 7, 2021.

Falling numbers may signal that the state has reached the peak of the omicron variant.

More than 430,000 people tested positive for coronavirus last week; at the same time, new case positivity rate dropped for the first time since early November.

The state had nearly 126,000 more people test positive since Friday.

The 76,887 new coronavirus cases brought the state's seven-day daily average to 56,759.

Between Sunday and Thursday, hospitalizations rose 55% to 8,406 people. Nearly 1,000 people were in intensive care beds.

USF Health expert Jason Salemi says omicron seems to be less deadly than delta, but cautions Floridians should still take the surge in cases seriously.

The state reported 31,758 new cases Friday and 32,850 Saturday, a 320% surge in weekly numbers. The surge has come with a rush to get tested ahead of the holidays, and that trend continued after Christmas.