LARGO — Dr. Ulyee Choe, director of the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas, told county commissioners Jan. 11 that there had been a recent spike in COVID-19 cases caused mostly by the omicron variant.
He said omicron was more contagious than other variants but appears to cause less severe illness. He also said models from around the world showed it had a quick rise and descent. Predictions are that new cases in Florida will peak by the end of the month and the spike will reverse itself soon thereafter.
Choe said 11,000 new COVID-19 cases had been reported last week, compared to only 573 three weeks ago. The positivity rate had been 25.6%, up from 2.8%. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the transmission rate in Pinellas is high with a 27% increase in new cases over the past seven days.
In the report released Jan. 14 by the Florida Department of Health for the week of Jan. 7-13, Pinellas County’s new case count was 14,316 (about 2,045 a day) compared to 11,232 (about 1,605 a day) for Dec. 31-Jan. 6. The cumulative case count rose to 157,061. The county’s new case positivity rate for Jan. 7-13 was up to 27.5%, up slightly from 25.6% reported by DOH the week before.
Choe said local hospitals are treating more COVID-19 patients with about 400-500 currently hospitalized with COVID-19. The majority are unvaccinated, especially those in ICU. Choe said 25.4% of those being treated in local hospitals had come in for other reasons and COVID-19 had been detected during routine screening.
CDC reported that new hospital admissions in Pinellas over the past seven days totaled 725 with a 51% increase in the rate of new admissions. CDC reported less than 10 deaths in the past seven days and the death rate decreased by 31%. DOH does not report the deaths by county.
Emergency medical services is reporting an increase in call volumes and wait times, but the problems are not as severe as during the peak of the delta variant a few months ago, Choe said.
Choe also reported an increased demand for testing. Two sites are open in Pinellas — no appointment required. The first is at 7150 114th St. in Largo and the second site is at 2333 34th St. S. in St. Petersburg. Both are open daily from open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. with new clients being accepted through 4:30 p.m. Call 844-770-8548.
Residents can also get free testing at a drive-thru site at Tropicana Field, Lot 2. The city of St. Petersburg has partnered with Impact Health and the Tampa Bay Rays to offer the tests seven days a week from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Both PCR and rapid antigen testing will be offered. Those with health coverage will be asked to show their insurance card.
No appointment is necessary but the public is encouraged to pre-register at ImpactHealth.com/stpetetrop. Those needing a test will be asked to line up southbound on 16th Street South, turn west on third Avenue South to enter the testing area.
Testing also is available from private providers, visit https://covid19.pinellascounty.org/testing/.
Choe recommends getting tested about five days after suspected exposure to COVID-19 to allow for the incubation period.
State’s COVID-19 case count nears 5 million
DOH reported 430,297 new COVID-19 cases in its report for the week of Jan. 7-13 — an increase of 33,183 from the previous week. The cumulative case count since March 2020 grew to 4,992,265.
According to the CDC, Florida’s transmission rate for the virus is high.
DOH reported a statewide death count of 63,158 — 270 more than the week of Dec. 31-Jan. 6.
Death reports are often delayed so the date a person died could be days or weeks prior to when it is included in the count.
As of Jan. 13, 32 deaths had been reported in children under age 16, 445 in the age group 16-29, 1,168 for ages 30-39, 2,808 for ages 40-49, 6,397 for ages 50-59, 5,207 for ages 60-64 and 47,101 for ages 64 and older.
The state’s new case positivity rate was 29.3% for Jan. 7-13, down slightly from 31.2% reported for Dec. 31-Jan. 6.
By age group, the highest new case positivity rate for Jan. 13 was 32.5% for ages 12-19, 32% for ages 20-29, and 31.2% for ages 5-11 and 30-39. The lowest positivity rate, 22.7%, was reported in ages 65 and older, and 26.9% for ages 60-64.
Vaccination rate
An increased emphasis has been placed on getting more people vaccinated with the discovery of the omicron variant, which is the cause of the rapid spread of COVID-19. The first case in Florida was reported Dec. 7 by a hospital in Tampa.
DOH reported that 72% of Floridians have taken at least one dose of the vaccine as of Jan.13. DOH says 15,067,643 Floridians have received a COVID-19 shot with 2,103,600 receiving a first-dose only and 8,332,005 completing the one- or two-shot series. In addition, 4,632,038 have taken a booster shot.
According to DOH, 91% of those 65 and older had received at least one shot, 90% of ages 60-64, 83% of ages 50-59, 78% of ages 40-49, 70% of ages 30-39, 61% of ages 20-29, 59% of ages 12-19 and 18% for ages 5-11.
In Pinellas County, 646,158 have received at least one dose of vaccine out of a population of 992,298, or 68%. According to the county’ dashboard, as of Jan. 14, 71.4% have received at least one shot, and 62.6% of residents are fully vaccinated, meaning they have received either one or two shots as required.
Choe said the vaccine continued to be the best defense against COVID-19 and recommended that everyone get vaccinated and stay home when sick.
Information about COVID in Pinellas is available at https://covid19.pinellascounty.org/.
United States and global numbers
According to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine’s COVID-19 dashboard, as of 1:21 p.m. Jan. 15, 65.2 million cases and 849,748 deaths had been reported in the United States, and 324.63 million cases had been reported worldwide with 5.53 million deaths.
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