JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s Department of Health reported 37,772 new COVID-19 cases over the past week, the smallest weekly total since the first week of July.
It was the state’s fifth straight week with fewer new infections than the week prior, according to the state’s full weekly COVID-19 report released Friday and covering Sept. 24-30.
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The state’s new-case positivity rate dropped to 6.5%, the lowest since June. Duval County’s rate was at 7.3%.
New cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations steadily trended downward throughout September after August was the worst month of the pandemic in Florida.
The state has gone nine consecutive days with fewer than 10,000 new cases. In the peak of the summer surge in August, Florida was reported on average more than 21,000 new cases per day.
The state closed September with under 5,500 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the Florida Hospitalization, after admissions had peaked at nearly 17,000 weeks prior.
The trendlines on deaths are more difficult to pinpoint since data is added weeks later.
Of 55,299 deaths of Florida residents during the pandemic, at least 5,300 were reported in September, though that total is likely to grow as backlogged data gets added in the coming days. More than 9,300 fatalities were verified in August, the deadliest month of the pandemic in the state.