COVID numbers are creeping back up nationwide, but not so much in Florida

COVID-19 cases are on the rise, public health officials said this week.

The virus that causes flu-like symptoms shouldn't be taken lightly, and can still potentially be deadly for the most vulnerable among us, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While CDC lacks the wealth of reporting data it had during the pandemic, the latest reports show a small bump in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, mostly toward the Northeast and West Coast.

But CDC also reports that Florida showed an increase in COVID-19 test positivity from June 17 to June 24 of 0.3%.

The agency is again promoting COVID vaccines as a defense against severe disease: Last week, the CDC said that people 6 months old and older should update their COVID-19 and flu shots this fall. Updated COVID shots are expected from Moderna, Novavax, and Pfizer later this year, the CDC said.

"Last season, people who received a 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine saw greater protection against illness and hospitalization than those who did not receive a 2023-2024 vaccine," CDC says . "To date, hundreds of millions of people have safely received a COVID-19 vaccine under the most intense vaccine safety monitoring in United States history."

Meanwhile, Brevard County's has had more than 100 deaths attributed to COVID-19 so far this year, from more than 95,000 cases, according to data from the Florida Department of Health.

Here's what the most recent available FDOH statistics show:

COVID-19 cases so far this year:

• Brevard — 6,454 cases
• Florida — 204,406 cases

Deaths so far this year:

• Brevard — 135
• Florida — 2,975

How do this year's deaths compare to previous years?

Brevard had 1,259 deaths in 2021, the worst year for COVID. That compares with 548 deaths in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, 666 deaths in 2022, and 289 deaths last year.

Statewide, 23,345 died the first year of the pandemic, 39,867 in 2021, 21,291 in 2022 and 8,439 last year. Mid way through this year, 2,975 have died statewide.

Persons vaccinated for COVID-19 this year:

Brevard — 9,564 people

Florida — 376,004 people

Are there any caveats to this data?

Yes. FDOH gives the following caveats on their COVID-19 data:

• It's "provisional and subject to change"
• Death counts include only Florida residents with a positive PCR (polymerase chain reaction), antigen, or sequencing test result.
• County of death is based on the county of residence when the person became a case
• The surveillance case definition for COVID-19 deaths "differs from the definition used by Florida’s Bureau of Vital Statistics. Numbers will not align between the two data sources."

Is there a new variant?

Yes. New variants of the virus keep emerging . CDC reports that the KP.3 strain accounts for 33% of infections nationwide, followed by the KP.2 strain at almost 21%. Another strain, LB. 1, is about 18% of infections.

Contact Waymer at (321) 261-5903 or at jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) at @JWayEnviro.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: COVID numbers are creeping back up nationwide, but not so much in Florida