January 7 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 196 positive COVID-19 tests today, with an official test positivity rate of 5.73%. No new deaths were reported.
Of the people whose positive tests came back yesterday, 35 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 136 deaths have been reported in the county, 42 of which were in long-term care.
The overall number of people (from all counties) hospitalized here for COVID-19 increased from 224 to 246. However, the number of “people hospitalized for COVID” for Alachua County only went up by 1, so these people may be from other counties.
State COVID-19 hospitalizations increased slightly to 7,327 today.
The state reported 19,473 new positive tests (official positivity rate of 11.60%) and a net increase of 164 deaths, 43 of which were from long-term care facilities.
Changes in deaths were reported on 35 different dates, going back to August 5.
Changes in the number of deaths by month: August (+3), September (+1), October (+2-1), November (+3), December (+108), January (+48)
The peaks are on July 31 (235) and August 4 (239), and the 7-day moving average peak is August 5 (227).
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 161.6 through yesterday’s cases. Here is the 7-day average of new cases for the past 14 days:
The state has vaccinated a total of 384,223 people (14,601 have received the complete series), and Alachua County has vaccinated 11,584 people (997 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.
Here is the age distribution for the state; age distribution for the county is not available:
Q. What is happening with the 65 and older registration list? When and how will those registered be notified?
A. Over 12,000 of the County’s approximately 40,000 residents 65 and older have registered. Over the coming weeks, they will be notified in various ways, including contacts by their primary care physicians, the Health Department, and notices of Community Clinics. All vaccinations will be by appointment to avoid long lines and dangerous congregations of at-risk people. We expect these appointments to begin very soon. It is our understanding that nursing home and assisted living resident vaccinations have begun. As soon as we have more details on this, we will notify the public.
Here’s the problem with Alachua County. My younger sister with fewer pre-assisting conditions has already been vaccinated by Swanee County at the age of 67. She’s not wealthy as I’m not. What’s going on with Alachua County?