Polk County's COVID-19 rate at lowest level since May
Gary White- The Florida Department of Health reported 548 new cases for the county in the week ending Thursday, a decline of 18.4% from the previous week.
- The occurrence of new infections has dropped for eight consecutive weeks since reaching a peak in late August.
- The agency’s weekly update registered the positive rate on testing for Polk County residents at 4.2%, down from 4.4% in the previous weekly report.
Polk County is at its lowest level of COVID-19 infections since May, before the emergence of the delta variant generated the most intense phase of the pandemic.
The Florida Department of Health reported 548 new cases for the county in the week ending Thursday, a decline of 18.4% from the previous week. The occurrence of new infections has dropped for eight consecutive weeks since reaching a peak in late August.
The agency’s weekly update registered the positive rate on testing for Polk County residents at 4.2%, down from 4.4% in the previous weekly report. That is the lowest reported level since May. Polk County’s positivity rate peaked at 28.9% in mid-August.
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The Department of Health has tallied 128,010 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Polk since the pandemic reached the county in March 2020.
Amid the decline in infections, vaccinations against COVID-19 have also tapered off among Polk County residents. The state reported another 1,754 vaccinations, 2.3% fewer than the week ending Oct. 14.
The rate of vaccination has declined in Polk County for the past five weeks.
Among eligible residents (ages 12 and older), 65% have received at least one vaccine dose, the state reported Friday. That places Polk well below the rate of 73% for all Floridians.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Tracker website on Friday listed 58.4% of Polk County as fully vaccinated, up 0.7% from a week earlier.
The CDC’s COVID Tracker on Friday showed 51 deaths of Polk County residents for the previous seven days, 12 fewer than the week before. The site registered 540 cases for the week, a decrease of 18.7%.
The Department of Health disclosed another 15,314 infections among Floridians, showing a decrease of 21.5% from the previous report. The update indicated another 844 COVID-related deaths in the state, 29.2% fewer than the previous week.
The cumulative death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 58,803, according to the state’s figures.
Statewide, the Department of Health recorded another 60,287, a slight drop from the previous report. The lowest vaccination rate is 54% for the 20-to-29 age group, followed by 56% for those ages 12 to 19.
The agency does not say which new vaccinations were initial doses, second doses of a two-shot regiment or booster shots, now available for those who received the Pfizer vaccine.
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Polk County had registered a cumulative 2,381 deaths related to COVID-19 through Oct. 7, according to a website maintained by Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology for the USF Health College of Public Health. That was an increase of 47 from a week earlier.
The CDC dashboard showed 134 new hospital admissions related to COVID-19 for the previous week, a decrease of 29.8%.
The agency reported a 4.17% positivity rate for the county, down from 5.46% the previous Friday. The CDC changed Polk County’s transmission rate from “high” to “substantial,” indicating between 50 and 100 new cases per 100,000 residents in the previous week.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.