Florida reported a new record number of Covid-19 cases Friday – more over the past week than any other seven-day period during the pandemic.
Data published Friday by the state health department showed 151,415 new Covid-19 cases over the past week, for an average of 21,630 cases each day.
The previous record high was just a week ago – on August 6 – with 134,711 total cases reported over seven days, for an average of 19,244 cases each day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
With this latest update, Florida has the second-highest rate of new cases per capita, with just over 100 new cases per 100,000 people each day over the past week, behind only Louisiana. The US overall is averaging more than 37 new cases per 100,000 people each day.
Over the past week, Florida reported 286 deaths and a new case positivity rate of 19.3%, according the state health department’s COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report.
Florida became the 23rd to vaccinate at least 50% of its residents on Friday, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nationally, 50.5% of the US population is fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Just under 60% of those eligible to be vaccinated are fully vaccinated, and 61.5% of adults are fully vaccinated. Also according to CDC data, an average of 473,859 people are initiating vaccination each day in the US.