The highly contagious COVID-19 Omicron variant continued to spread in Florida in last week …
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The highly contagious COVID-19 omicron variant continued to spread in Florida in last week, as evidenced by high percentages of new case positivity, but health officials say the recent wave may have spiked and started a decline.
Statewide the new case positivity rate for the seven-day period ending Jan. 20, 2022, was 26.8%
For the counties around the lake, new case positivity was higher than the state average:
New covid cases for the period ending Jan. 20 were:
According to the Florida Department of Health, vaccination is the most effective way to prevent severe illness and death from covid. (Vaccinated persons can still be infected with covid, but are more likely to have no symptoms or only mild symptoms.) Statewide, as of Jan. 20, 73% of Floridians age 5 and older have been vaccinated with at least one dose.
In the counties around Lake Okeechobee, vaccination rates are:
As of Jan. 20, COVID-19 has been responsible for 63,763 deaths in Florida, and an increase of 605 deaths in the past week. Those who have not been vaccinated are at the highest risk, per FDOH.
Statewide deaths include:
New COVID-19 hospitalizations for the week ending Jan. 22, according to the Centers for Disease Control, were:
For COVID-19 testing sites, go online to https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/testing-sites/ Americans can also go online to COVIDtests.gov to order free at home tests, which will be delivered by mail.
COVID-19 vaccinations are free and available at most pharmacies. To find a vaccination site near you, go online to https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/vaccines/vaccine-locator/