Coronavirus Florida

The number has risen over the last two months due to spread of subvariants of the coronavirus. The state has topped 60,000 new cases every week since the week of May 13-19.

With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for kids from 6 months to 5 years old expected as early as next week, Florida is in the national spotlight. It was the only state not to request the vaccine from the federal government.

The emergency authorization paves the way for vaccinations for children under 5 to begin next week. A final signoff from the CDC is expected this weekend.

One expert expects the state to hit a peak, and then start to see lower hospitalizations and cases.

About 40 inmates have tested positive for the virus, a spokeswoman says.

A number of counties across the greater Tampa Bay region are at a high risk of transmission with case counts as high as they’ve been since mid-February, part of a national surge arriving ahead of the Memorial Day holiday.

In the past several months, new treatments have emerged, which are most effective within the first five days of symptoms but patients may have a hard time knowing whether they qualify.

The CDC's running total for Florida was updated Monday to show 6,021,780 cases. Over the past week, the state has averaged approximately 8,055 new cases a day.

The numbers have been steadily increasing along with cases. On Friday there were 1,303 hospital inpatients with Covid and that climbed to 1,352 on Monday.

The state reported at 74,060 residents had died as of a Thursday count, up from 73,830 reported two weeks earlier.

USF Health professor Jill Roberts provides some possible explanations for this drop, including vaccine hesitancy that the COVID-19 pandemic intensified.

Hillsborough, Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties are now considered medium risk for COVID-19 transmission, along with Pinellas, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Sarasota counties.