ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — State numbers show that right now, more people are getting tested for the coronavirus than ever before.
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That increase in tests has led to an increase in cases in recent weeks.
According to the state health department, there were about 9,600 new cases the week starting Nov. 19. By the next week, it was up to nearly 11,000 new cases.
The week starting Dec. 3, Florida reported more than 13,000 new cases. The next week, it was up to more than 29,000 new cases.
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Then last week, Florida reported more than 125,000 new cases.
Dr. Jason Salemi, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida, has been tracking all the pandemic data for about two years now.
“Everything is happening at a very accelerated rate,” he said. “Your take-home story is, cases are increasing astronomically throughout the entire state.”
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Florida hit a new single-day case high on Christmas with more than 32,000 cases reported.
“From the beginning of the delta surge until we reached an average of 21,000 cases per day, was about a 36-day window,” Salemi said. “So a little bit over a month, with omicron, we’ve gone from the beginning of the surge to over 21,000 cases per day, in 12 days, less than two weeks.”
Orange County is recording a 600% increase in average daily cases. Miami-Dade County is at the highest at an almost 1,800% case increase.
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“It is pretty astonishing to look at the numbers,” Salemi said. “But when you saw what was happening in South Africa, when you saw what was happening in the U.K., you kind of knew the writing was on the wall.”
Testing is now at an all-time high.
The state does not track breakthroughs and reinfections, but Salemi said that is without a doubt happening.
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Hospitalizations are increasing slightly but not at the rapid rate of cases.
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