Florida reports highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases since August

Florida on Tuesday reported its largest single day spike in COVID-19 cases since August. 

The Miami Herald calculated that Florida had 20,194 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. No deaths had been reported for Tuesday, though the Florida Department of Health is expected to add deaths to Tuesday’s figures later. 

In the past week, the state has had a daily average of 27 deaths and 10,770 cases, the Herald’s analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed.

The latest data available from the Florida Health Department showed that the state had 29,568 new cases during the week of Dec. 10, more than double the 13,481 cases seen the week of Dec. 3.

As of last week, 70 percent of the population in Florida was vaccinated. 

The surge in infections comes as cities across the country break COVID-19 records as omicron has become the dominant strain in the U.S.

Los Angeles saw cases double in one day, and D.C. set new records for infections this week as well. Illinois also reported the highest daily case numbers the state had seen in more than a year.  

The highly contagious new variant is less likely than the delta variant to hospitalize those who are infected, studies have shown. 

As cases rise, President Biden has continued to encourage Americans to prioritize getting vaccinated and boosted to protect themselves against the virus.

“We should all be concerned about omicron, but not panicked,” the president said on Tuesday. 

“Omicron is serious, potentially deadly business for unvaccinated people,” Biden added. “If you’re not fully vaccinated, you have good reason to be concerned. You’re at a high risk of getting sick. And if you get sick, you’re likely to spread it to others, including friends and family, and the unvaccinated have a significantly higher risk of ending up in hospital or even dying.”