We are starting to see the effect the Thanksgiving holiday had on the spread of COVID-19 throughout the country. Now it’s time to brace for Christmas.
In Florida alone there were 7,985 coronavirus cases and 98 deaths added Tuesday, which raised the state total to 1,073,770 infections and 19,627 deaths. With the data from the Florida Department of Health, it shows the state has reported approximately 9,372 cases and 102 deaths per day this week.
Because of that, Florida still has the third-highest number of cases in the country since the start of the pandemic. Texas has the second-highest with 1.2 million cases and California has had the most with more than 1.3 million cases recorded.
Locally, the numbers continue to vary by county. Hillsborough still has the highest number of total cases at 62,149 cases and 975 deaths. Then there is a large gap followed by Pinellas coming in as the second-highest with 35,505 cases and 943 deaths. Next is Polk with 29,734 cases and 709 deaths. Manatee currently has a total of 18,008 cases and 396 deaths. Pasco has 16,543 cases and 309 deaths. There is another large gap with Hernando coming in as the next-highest with 5,531 cases and 230 deaths. Citrus has had the lowest total so far with 5,217 cases and 187 deaths.
In Tampa Bay as a whole there were 1,769 coronavirus cases and 21 deaths reported Tuesday. Of those, Pinellas County had nine deaths, Polk County had five deaths, Pasco County had three deaths and Hillsborough and Citrus counties had two deaths each. Neither Manatee nor Hernando counties had any new deaths reported.
To put that in perspective, Tuesday’s numbers showed there were 4,560 people in the state hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. Of those, 919 were in Tampa Bay, where only 21 percent of hospital beds and 15 percent of ICU beds are currently available.
As a whole, the uptick in numbers is reflected across the nation. According to the COVID Tracking Project, the U.S. is now averaging nearly 200,000 confirmed cases a day over the course of the last week. More than 2,200 people a day have died during this time period.
Many other states are also seeing a substantial jump. Georgia’s COVID-19 tally nearly doubled in December from November. Alabama nearly doubled as well, as its authorities — who reported an average of 14,000 new cases a week through the second half of November — announced the first week of December had more than 22,000 new cases.
The recent focus of many officials has been to warn the public to avoid traveling and gathering in large groups for the holidays while also delving deeper into the proposed timeline of the vaccines that are on the horizon.
Many are reminding people that no vaccine will be available by Christmas, so choosing to gather or venture into large groups is a risk that may result in infection. There is no safe way to travel in a pandemic — there are merely “safer” options. While Florida may not have any regulations in place to keep its residents safe, many other states do. So if you plan to travel, make sure you know what is required of you before you attempt to enter that state.
