February 28 COVID data update

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

[Editor’s note: This information is provided to put the COVID-19 data in context and show trends. We are presenting the data as reported by Florida Department of Health with the understanding that the data is messy, and each day’s update changes multiple previous days. We believe that individuals should have access to as much information as possible so they can make decisions about their risks; you can find our opinions about government actions in the COVID-19 category on the site.]

According to the state dashboard, Alachua County reported an increase of 35 positive COVID-19 tests today (including 1 added to June) with an official test positivity rate of 2.48% on a day with a low number of test results. The 7-day average positivity rate is down to 1.72%. Four new deaths were reported.

The new deaths:

• 77-year-old male with unknown emergency room visit and hospitalization; he tested positive on December 11
• 68-year-old female who visited an emergency room and was hospitalized; she tested positive on December 31
• 84-year-old female who was hospitalized; she tested positive on January 14
• 71-year-old male who visited an emergency room and was hospitalized; he tested positive on January 21

Three of the four were in long-term care.

Of the people whose positive tests came back yesterday, none were 65 or older (this is the important number to track because those are the people who are more likely to have bad outcomes).

A total of 232 deaths have been reported in the county, 69 of which were in long-term care.

The overall number of people (from all counties) hospitalized here for COVID-19 stayed at 61. This is down from a peak of 256 on January 13.

State COVID-19 hospitalizations decreased from 3,728 to 3,679 today. This is down from a peak of 7,763 on January 13.

The state reported 5,539 new positive tests (official positivity rate of 6.40% on a day with a low number of test results) and an increase of 118 deaths, 38 of which were from long-term care facilities.

Changes in deaths were reported on 40 different dates, going back to October 30.

Changes in the number of deaths by month: October (+1), December (+2), January (+46), February (+69)

The first-wave peak was on August 4 (240), and the 7-day moving average peak was August 5 (227). The second-wave peak so far is January 22 (208); the 7-day moving average peak is January 18 (191). These are expected to keep changing.

This chart uses different colors to show how the reported deaths stack up by date:

Here is the full chart for context:

The state also publishes a chart of the percentage of new tests that are positive by day (this chart is for the whole state), showing the trend over the past 14 days.

This chart shows the trend in positivity rate for Alachua County.

This chart shows the number of negative tests reported in Alachua County by day, which gives an idea of the volume of testing:

The 7-day moving average of new cases is at 31.1 through yesterday, down from a peak of 188.3 on January 11. Here is the 7-day average of new cases for the past 14 days:

The state has vaccinated a total of 3,017,661 people (1,680,230 have received the complete series). Vaccines were administered first to healthcare and front-line workers, with vaccines being rolled out to people 65 and older now.

Alachua County has vaccinated a total of 47,047 people, almost 17.5% of the population (34,286, over 12.5% of the population, have received the complete series).

This chart shows the percentage of the populations of Alachua County and Florida by age that have been vaccinated. 66% of seniors in Alachua County have received at least one dose, and 46% of seniors in Alachua County have received both doses. By comparison, about 51% of the state’s seniors have received at least one dose, with 28% receiving both doses.