Page 35 - Florida Sentinel 1-21-22

COVID-19 News
Florida Reports 33,032
How To Order Free COVID Test Kits
COVID Test Kit
Coronavirus Cases, Among
Lowest Since Dec. 26
As more and more people are getting their shots, Florida reported 33,032 new coronavirus cases, one day after 31,855, which is the fewest since 29,046 Dec. 26, as hospitalizations have de- clined three days in a row to 10,893 but deaths, which lag sometims weeks behind in- fections data, have surged to a weekly increase of 642, ac- cording to data posted Tues- day by the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion.
Also, the CDC released county data, including still listing all of them in Florida
as high, several times above the minimum for that cate- gory for cases per 100,000 and positivity rate. Of the South Florida Counties, the positivity rates went down except Okeechobee from
40.28% to 47.7%, the highest in the area. Palm Beach County dropped from 37.11% to to 29.74%, slightly higher than the two lowest:L Broward at 28.97% and Miami-Dade at 28.58%.
Americans can start or- dering free at-home rapid COVID-19 tests through a new government website.
The website rollout is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to increase ac- cess to testing, including more over-the-counter tests at pharmacies and in-person testing at local health centers. The administration is also ex- pected to make available 400 million N95 masks free at pharmacies and community health centers across the country.
While COVIDTests.gov (the official order site) was expected to start accepting
orders on Wednesday, an “Order free at-home tests” button was added Tuesday that allowed residents to order early.
White House press secre- tary Jen Psaki said Tuesday the site is in its beta phase to allow troubleshooting.
“We can’t guarantee there won’t be a bug or two,” Psaki
said, “but the best tech teams across the administration and
the Postal Service are work- ing hard to make this a suc- cess.”
The Postal Service will only send one set of four free at-home coronavirus tests to valid residential addresses.
US Surgeon General: Weeks Ahead 'Will Be Tough' As US Faces Omicron Wave
Employees of Nomi Health check in a long line of people for COVID-19 tests, Tues- day, Dec. 21, 2021, in North Miami, FL.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warns that while many areas of the country already hit hard by the omicron variant are starting to see cases plateau or improve, many other parts aren't keeping up with that pace. He warns that the nation could expect to see a peak in the coming weeks.
Murthy told CNN on Sunday, "There are parts of the country, New York in
particular, and other parts of the Northeast where we are starting to see a plateau, and in some cases, an early de- cline in cases."
Data from Johns Hop- kins University shows that since the first case of COVID-19 was reported on Jan. 21, 2020, the country has reported 66,421,749 cases of the virus, and 851,730 deaths related to COVID-19.
Scientists are also warn- ing that we should also ex- pect other worrisome variants to spread, and say that every infection provides an opportunity for the virus to mutate, as the Associated press reported. Modelers are forecasting that between 50,000 and 300,000 more Americans could die by the time the wave abates, which is expected to happen in mid-March.
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