Coronavirus positives in Bradenton and Hillsborough Counties (Jacksonville, Orlando: agriculture, associations)

[wondermint2]

Reported deaths in Florida have been climbing the last four weeks, but still not near the 1,000 weekly reported deaths several times in January and February as well as last August. For those interested in the number of Florida deaths I found this page from the CDC:

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra...lytrendsdeaths

From July 20th through July 29th there were 593 Covid-19 deaths reported in Florida (an avg. of 59.3 per day).

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The Florida Hospital Association reported there were 9,329 hospitalizations in the state as of Friday. In comparison, 5,548 were hospitalized the previous week. The week before that, it was 3,652. The Florida Hospital Association said the state peaked at 10,179 cases last July.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fl...eek/ar-AAMLsDN

[wondermint2]

The lifting of the federal eviction moratorium and school openings are kind of wild cards as to when we reach a peak for this wave. I suspect that these factors will tend to prolong this wave. Some of the "experts" predictions are all over the map as to when we'll reach a peek and how high the numbers will climb. At this time I'm not really seeing anything to suggest that we've reached a peak yet.

'Down the drain’: Millions face eviction after Biden lets protections expire

https://news.google.com/articles/CAI...S&ceid=US%3Aen

As the clock runs out on a nationwide eviction ban for what’s expected to be the final time, millions of tenants are staring at the prospect of losing their homes as they wait for emergency rental aid that the government has failed to deliver.

The federal eviction moratorium in place since September is set to expire Saturday, after the Biden administration refused to extend it and Democrats in Congress couldn't muster the votes to intervene. Now lawmakers and activists fear an unprecedented surge in evictions in the coming months just as the highly transmissible Delta variant causes a spike in coronavirus cases.

[wondermint2]

What Delta has changed in the Covid pandemic — and what it hasn’t

https://www.statnews.com/2021/07/30/...what-it-hasnt/

Generally, the vaccines were designed to prevent severe disease, and they are proving remarkably successful at that. Even “mild” Covid-19 can lay someone out for a few days, but without vaccines, some of those now-mild cases would have turned severe or led to death. Making subsequent infections milder and milder — already, many are asymptomatic — is how vaccines will help turn the coronavirus from a serious threat into what is hoped to be little more than a nuisance over time.

There are also some biological reasons why some people feel sick after a breakthrough infection, particularly when they contract the Delta variant. It’s difficult to build up a robust immune response in the nose and throat, particularly when a shot is delivered into the arm. And Delta is so adept at multiplying quickly in upper airway cells that it can start causing symptoms before the immune system kicks into gear.

But the vaccine-conferred immune response is still excellent at fending off the virus before it can invade the lungs, which is when severe disease occurs. A study published Thursday also showed that, in monkeys, lower levels of antibody were needed to halt the virus in the lungs than in the upper airway — suggesting why the vaccines were better at protecting against severe disease than they were at blocking infection entirely.

[yellowsky]

Thanks to Wondermint2 for sharing your research. Excellent information and much appreciated.

[wondermint2]

Florida sets a record with 21,683 new COVID-19 cases reported Saturday, the CDC says

https://www.bradenton.com/news/coron...253168148.html

Saturday, the state of Florida reported more new COVID-19 cases to the Centers for Disease Control than any previous day in the coronavirus pandemic, 21,683.

That’s a 12.1% jump over the previous record, 19,334, on Jan. 7, during the worst month of the pandemic, when daily case counts were routinely topping 10,000. It was the second peak of the pandemic and in the months following cases returned to average levels of between 2,000 and 8,000 daily cases.

The late half of July is so far looking to be the start of Florida’s third COVID-19 peak, as the case numbers reported Thursday (17,093), Friday (17,589) and Saturday mix in with Jan. 6-8 to comprise the top six individual case count days. The average over the last seven days is 15,818 cases.

By comparison, on July 12, 2020, the state reported a then-national record of 15,300 cases.

Florida, which represents about 6.5% of the U.S. population, accounts for about 21.4% of the country’s new cases, based on the data the state is reporting to the CDC.

Florida also reported 108 deaths Saturday, eight days after reporting 148 deaths. Before this most recent surge, you have to go back to March 26 to find a higher single-day death count (159).

[wondermint2]

Florida nightlife is going wild and college students refuse to stop the party even as the Delta variant of the coronavirus rips through the state

https://news.google.com/articles/CAI...S&ceid=US%3Aen

On a recent Saturday night in July, the vibrations of EDM music pulsating from bars and nightclubs along Atlantic Avenue drifted into the palm fronds and sliced through the humid Florida air.

In the heart of Palm Beach County, a throng of 20-somethings snaked down the block outside The Office, a local nightlife venue in Delray Beach, poised to elbow their way toward the crowded bar and order rounds of shots.

Across the road at Taverna Opa, another late-night party scene, a DJ spun some tracks to a crowd of dozens as belly dancers stood on top of wooden tables and swerved through the air.

During the worst surges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida hotspots like these have counted on the loyalty of one oftentimes carefree constituency: local college students who, come Saturday night, are ready to get lit.

"I don't think I can really name a whole lot of people that don't go out," Nicole Prescott, 23, a drama student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, told Insider. She's noticed that masks have been a rarity throughout the spring and summer on the few occasions she's gone out with friends since receiving her Pfizer shots.

"Being so lax about protocols and just letting people go through life however they want with COVID is really dangerous," she added.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Down the drain’: Millions face eviction after Biden lets protections expire

https://news.google.com/articles/CAI...S&ceid=US%3Aen

As the clock runs out on a nationwide eviction ban for what’s expected to be the final time, millions of tenants are staring at the prospect of losing their homes as they wait for emergency rental aid that the government has failed to deliver.

The federal eviction moratorium in place since September is set to expire Saturday, after the Biden administration refused to extend it and Democrats in Congress couldn't muster the votes to intervene. Now lawmakers and activists fear an unprecedented surge in evictions in the coming months just as the highly transmissible Delta variant causes a spike in coronavirus cases.

I wanted to clarify about this situation. The Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) current eviction prevention efforts for all Americans expires today. However the FHFA, FHA, Veterans Affairs Department, and the Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development extended their eviction moratorium until Sept. 30, 2021.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) extend eviction moratorium

https://news.google.com/articles/CBM...S&ceid=US%3Aen

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) each announced Friday that their coronavirus pandemic-driven eviction moratoria, which protect homeowners and renters from eviction in the event of nonpayment of rent, will be extended through Sept. 30, 2021.

The FHFA's single-family real estate owned (REO) moratorium was set to expire on July 31, 2021 and applies to properties acquired by mortgage giants Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions or properties backed by the FHA.

"The pandemic continues to have an outsized impact on the ability of Americans to meet their monthly rent or mortgage payments," FHFA Acting Director Sandra Thompson said in a statement. "Today’s extension of the eviction moratorium protects particularly vulnerable Americans who otherwise would be at risk of losing a place to live."

[graceC]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

The lifting of the federal eviction moratorium and school openings are kind of wild cards as to when we reach a peak for this wave. I suspect that these factors will tend to prolong this wave. As the clock runs out on a nationwide eviction ban for what’s expected to be the final time, millions of tenants are staring at the prospect of losing their homes as they wait for emergency rental aid that the government has failed to deliver.

I am not seeing the direct connection between eviction and prolonging this pandemic. The school reopening, maybe.

Glad Biden chose to let the eviction ban run out. Given the workers shortage across multiple job fields (not just low paying retail jobs), I suspect those who are still unemployed and can’t pay their rent are in that situation by choice.

[wondermint2]

This web site is kind of interesting (see links below). It shows the number of people wearing masks by community.

For the week ending July 26 in the entire state of Florida 45.44% were wearing masks and in the USA 39.88% were wearing masks. Roughly about 1/3 of people in Sarasota & Manatee Counties were wearing masks for the week ending July 26. So Sarasota & Manatee Counties are currently below the state and national percentage of people wearing masks. On their web site you can see what the graph looks like over time (going back to April 2021).

From their web page:

"Every day, Delphi surveys tens of thousands of Facebook users, asking them a broad set of COVID-related questions, including whether they, or anyone in their household, are currently experiencing COVID-related symptoms. We also ask them if they wear a mask when they are in public. For this signal, we estimate the percentage of people who say they wear a mask most or all of the time when they are in public. The signal changed in Wave 10 of the survey, unifying the timespan to 7 days from previously 5 days."

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For Sarasota County:

34.48 per 100 people wearing masks for the 7-day period through July 26. That represents a 16.72% increase over the previous week.

On Monday, July 26th People Wearing Masks was better by 22.43% compared to the 4 month worst value of 28.17% per 100 on Tue, Jul 20th 2021.

https://delphi.cmu.edu/covidcast/ind...d&region=12115


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For Manatee County:

35.66 per 100 people wearing masks for the 7-day period through July 26. That represents a 0.77% increase over the previous week.

On Monday, July 26th People Wearing Masks was better by 22.69% compared to the 4 month worst value of 29.06% per 100 on Tue, Jul 20th 2021.

https://delphi.cmu.edu/covidcast/ind...d&region=12081

[wondermint2]

The latest 7-day numbers from the CDC (see below). I'm still not seeing anything to suggest that a top is in place. Testing has leveled off again and the percentage rise in new cases is well above the percentage rise in testing - suggesting that we're still getting a good deal of community spread.

The anamoly that I mentioned previously about hospitalizations is continuing. The test positivity ratio for Sarasota County is several points below the test positivity ratio in Manatee County - and yet Sarasota County has roughly 50% more hospitalizations. (In absolute terms the test positivity ratios for both counties are very high).

Vaccinations in both counties continue their recent modest percentage increase - although IMO still not enough to make much of a difference. We'll see if this trend continues.

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https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view


Manatee County

Cases: 1547 (increase of 56.1%) [through Thursday July 29th]
Test positivity ratio = 19.86% (increase of 3.38%) [through Thursday, July 29th]
New hospital admissions = 98 (increase of 78.18%) [through Saturday, July 31st]
Testing volume = 7164 (increase of 0.92%) [through Saturday, July 31st]

Through August 1st the percent of total population vaccinated in Manatee County is 46.5%


Sarasota County

Cases: 1417 (increase of 56.68%) [through Thursday, July 29th]
Test positivity ratio = 15.59% (increase of 1.77%) [through Thursday, July 29th]
New hospital admissions = 151 (increase of 75.58%) [through Saturday, July 31st]
Testing volume = 7299 (increase of 11.25%) [through Saturday, July 31st]

Through August 1st the percent of total population vaccinated in Sarasota County is 56.3%