The number of reported new COVID-19 cases started to subside last week, according to data released Friday by the Florida Department of Health.
Meantime, nearly 85,000 Florida residents have died with COVID since the pandemic started in 2020.
The data showed that 21,949 new cases were reported from Jan. 13 to Thursday, down from 28,252 during the week that started Jan. 6 and from 31,675 during the week that started Dec. 30.
If the trend continues, it would mark an end to a significant increase that began around Thanksgiving that scientists are blaming on the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant, which quickly becoming the dominant strain in parts of the U.S. during the winter.
Experts were concerned about a winter “tripledemic” respiratory illnesses, amid a rise in COVID, RSV and flu. Over the past few weeks, RSV and flu rates have decided, experts say.
State data showed that a reported 84,927 residents had died as of Thursday, up from a reported 84,176 two weeks earlier. Because of lags in reporting, it is unclear when the additional deaths occurred.
Florida has one of the worst rates for COVID vaccine boosters in the country.
The Florida Department of Health releases COVID-19 data every two weeks
Information from Health News Florida's Stephanie Colombini was used in this report.
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