ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida over the last two weeks has reported 67,747 new cases of COVID-19 and 813 virus-related deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The World Health Organization reported 4.5 million new cases and about 13,500 deaths globally for the week ending Aug. 31, a “welcome decline” of 16% and 13%, respectively, from figures the week prior. The agency on Wednesday said case numbers fell from those of the Aug. 31 report by about 12% to just under 4.2 million new infections.
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A federal study that focused on American 9-year-olds showed their math and reading scores fell during the pandemic in all regions of the country. According to those findings, the average math score fell 7 percentage points and the average reading score fell 5 percentage points. Despite how the latest average for math remains 15 points higher than it was in 1971, with the average reading score still seven points higher, National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner Peggy Carr called the study a “sobering picture” of schooling during the pandemic.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Thursday decided to endorse new COVID-19 booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna that target common omicron strains of the virus. The “bivalent” shots are comprised half-and-half of the original vaccine and protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron versions. Walensky said in a statement that the new boosters “can help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection.”
Aside the point, literally, health regulators in India and China claim to have developed two needle-free COVID-19 vaccine options: a squirt in the nose developed by Bharat Biotech and an oral inhaler from CanSino Biologics. Dr. Vineeta Bal, an immunologist and professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education Research in Pune city, said the advantage of Bharat Biotech’s nasal vaccine “is that it may get rid of the virus before it has a chance to establish itself in the lungs and replicate.” Though both vaccines-in-development have been cleared by their host countries’ governments, Bharat Biotech has reportedly not been quick about releasing the results of its studies and has not said when the nasal option will be released, while CanSino Biologics continues to point to preliminary studies and has also not forecast a rollout.
President Joe Biden on Sept. 2 requested that Congress provide over $17 billion for COVID-19 response efforts, including $8 billion to quicken research for next-generation vaccines and therapeutics, $7.1 billion for more vaccines and to replenish personal protective equipment in the Strategic National Stockpile and $2 billion to continue COVID-19 testing programs. Similar requests from the Biden administration regarding COVID-19 have not seen movement in Congress.
Tourism in the U.S. over Labor Day weekend broke records set in 2019, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Though airlines say they see no sign of a slowdown in leisure travel, the Global Business Travel Association doesn’t expect sustained business and corporate travel to return to pre-pandemic levels until mid-2026. Some corporate travelers remarked they were highly restricted from unapproved travel by their employers even until recently, but airlines noted travel by small-business operators has recovered nearly fully.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Below is a breakdown of Florida COVID-19 data reported by the CDC and the state on Sept. 9:
Cases
There were 67,747 new coronavirus cases in Florida over the last two weeks. This week, there were 28,791 cases reported. There were 38,956 cases the previous week.
Florida has seen 7,066,234 cases since the virus was first detected on March 1, 2020.
Deaths
The Florida Department of Health reported a cumulative death toll in Florida of 80,386. There were 813 fatalities recorded over the past two weeks, which we get by subtracting the number of deaths reported by DOH two weeks ago (79,573) from the current cumulative death toll.
The state stopped reporting the number of non-residents who died in Florida when the new weekly reporting method began.
Hospitalizations
The state Agency for Health Care Administration deleted its current COVID-19 hospitalization database and the state is no longer reporting how many patients have been hospitalized with the virus. However, Florida is still required to report that information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the CDC continues to release that information online. The most recent hospital numbers show 2,531 adult and 50 pediatric patients in Florida.
Positivity rate
The Florida Department of Health reported the percent of positive results from coronavirus tests was 12.4% for the week of Sept. 4 but did not provide how many people were tested during the past two weeks. Health officials say the rate should remain between 5% and 10% to prove a community has a hold of the virus and is curbing infections.
Below is the Central Florida region breakdown of new cases and new vaccination numbers between Sept. 2 - Sept. 8.
| County | Total cases as of Sept. 8 | New cases since Sept. 2 | Total people vaccinated | Percent of 6 mo+ population vaccinated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | 164,026 | 697 | 423,080 | 68% |
| Flagler | 26,952 | 142 | 80,346 | 67% |
| Lake | 101,959 | 433 | 257,338 | 67% |
| Marion | 98,777 | 507 | 231,821 | 61% |
| Orange | 449,903 | 1,567 | 1,109.317 | 75% |
| Osceola | 135,844 | 475 | 329,633 | 79% |
| Polk | 243,113 | 1,006 | 470,309 | 63% |
| Seminole | 124,520 | 479 | 333,661 | 69% |
| Sumter | 27,348 | 170 | 105,733 | 66% |
| Volusia | 140,976 | 565 | 359,259 | 63% |
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