New coronavirus cases leaped in Florida in the week ending Sunday, rising 12.6% as 151,764 cases were reported. The previous week had 134,751 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Florida ranked third among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.
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In the latest week, coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 20.3% from the week before, with 914,968 cases reported. With 6.45% of the country's population, Florida had 16.59% of the country's cases in the past week. Across the country, 46 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Escambia, Santa Rosa COVID-19 cases continue to climb
Escambia County reported 2,218 cases in the latest week, compared to a week earlier, when the county had 1,953 cases. That's a week-over-week increase of about 13.6%. Throughout the pandemic, Escambia County has reported 44,115 cases and 706 deaths.
Santa Rosa County reported a 20.7% percent increase in cases, with 1,340 cases in the latest week and 1,110 a week earlier. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 22,920 cases and 291 deaths.
Within Florida, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Columbia, Wakulla and Calhoun counties. Adding the most new cases overall were:
- Miami-Dade County, with 21,655 cases
- Broward County, with 14,666 cases
- Hillsborough County, with 10,981
Weekly case counts rose in 54 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Hillsborough, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
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COVID vaccinations in Florida
Florida ranked 20th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 61.2% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 59.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Sunday, Florida reported administering another 489,980 vaccine doses, including 326,466 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 489,609 vaccine doses, including 358,358 first doses. In all, Florida reported it has administered 23,606,283 total doses.
Across Florida, cases fell in 12 counties, with the best declines in Duval, St. Johns and Bay counties.
In Florida, 1,071 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 616 people were reported dead.
A total of 2,920,749 people in Florida have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 40,766 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 36,678,753 people have tested positive and 621,635 people have died.
COVID in the US: Track coronavirus cases across the United States
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Aug. 15.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
- Last week: 18,111
- The week before that: 16,794
- Four weeks ago: 6,210
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
- Last week: 122,551
- The week before that: 103,585
- Four weeks ago: 52,507
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosas Press Gazette: Santa Rosa COVID-19 cases are up 20.7% over last week, Escambia increases by 13.6%