ORLANDO, Fla. – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released several days of data after the holiday weekend that shows Florida may be turning the corner when it comes to the omicron wave.
New data released Tuesday from the CDC shows there has been a large decline in new infections and the state’s seven-day average of new cases has dropped nearly 25% in less than a week.
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The seven-day average of cases on Jan. 11, when the state recorded its fourth highest set of numbers since the pandemic began, was 65,759. In the latest data reported one week later, the seven-day average was 49,690, a drop of 24.43%.
Hospitalizations dropped by more than 300 over the weekend, though about half of these hospitalizations are people with COVID who are being treated for something else.
The number of new coronavirus cases globally rose by 20% last week to more than 18 million, marking a slowdown in the surge caused by the omicron variant’s spread, according to the World Health Organization.
The seven-day rolling average for daily new COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since mid-November, reaching nearly 1,700 on Jan. 17 — still below the peak of 3,300 in January 2021. Forecasters are predicting 50,000 to 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave subsides in mid-March.