Florida reports 15,000 new cases of COVID-19, 139 deaths

ORLANDO, Fla. – “Florida is in its fourth week of vaccine distribution and doses have been delivered to all 67 county health departments as well as hospitals in every region across the state,” DeSantis said.

According to the governor, Florida was the first state to vaccinate residents and staff of our over 4,000 long-term care facilities as well as vaccinate those who are 65 and older.

“We have more than 4.5 million seniors in the state and prioritizing them for the vaccine is the most effective tool we have to battle the pandemic,” DeSantis added. “We also continue with vaccinations of our front-line health care workers as well as long-term care facility staff and residents.”

The vaccines being sent from the federal government remain low, however DeSantis hopes to stay ahead of the curve so when more doses come, the infrastructure will be able to process it.

“We have been averaging more than 40,000 shots per day, and as we receive additional supply from the federal government, we will be prepared to increase that number,” DeSantis said. “Demand for the vaccine is high, and we know that there is no time to waste when it comes to getting shots in arms.”

Watch his full update below.

[Register for the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida here]

[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports over 19,000 new coronavirus cases as state awaits more vaccines]

Below is a breakdown of Florida COVID-19 data reported by the state on Jan. 9:

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 15,445 new cases on Saturday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,464,697 cases since March.

Deaths

Florida reported 139 new virus-related deaths Saturday. This means at least 23,150 people have died in relation to the coronavirus across the state, including 346 non-residents who died in Florida.

Hospitalizations

As of Saturday, there were currently 7,436 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.

Since March, 65,401 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from the coronavirus. That number includes the 338 patients who have been recently hospitalized due to the virus, according to the health department’s daily report.

Positivity rate

The percent of positive results ranged from 8.94% to 23.35% over the past two weeks and was 10.79% Friday.

Health officials say the rate should remain between 5% and 10% to prove a community has a hold of the virus and is curbing infections.

Vaccinations

The Florida Department of Health recently began releasing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered throughout the state. As of Saturday afternoon, 514,300 people have been vaccinated in Florida.

See COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region below:

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