Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 8-6-21

COVID
Florida Reports A Record With More Than 21,000 COVID-19 Cases Last Saturday
Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19 last Saturday, the state's highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion.
Over the last week, Florida saw a 50% increase weekly in new cases, as the state reported 110,477 cases from July 23 to July 29, ac- cording to data released by the Florida Department of Health.
Florida also reported 409 deaths this week, which brings the state's total to
People wait in line at a Miami-Dade County COVID-19 testing site, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Hialeah, Fla. Florida accounted for a fifth of the nation's new infections last week, more than any other state, according to the CDC. Lynne Sladky/AP
more than 39,000 since the pandemic began in March 2020. The peak for deaths in the state happened in mid- August 2020 when 1,266 people died over the span of seven days.
The governor is resisting mask mandates
The state has become a new epicenter for the virus, as CDC data shows that new case numbers in Florida make up nearly a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta vari- ant of the coronavirus con-
tinues to spread.
Florida Gov. Ron De-
Santis has opposed making masks mandatory across the state in addition to vaccine requirements. DeSantis, along with the state legisla- ture, has limited the ability of local officials to enforce re- strictions that public health officials say would help stop the spread of COVID-19.
On Friday, DeSantis signed an executive order barring school districts from forcing students to wear a mask or face covering when they return to schools later this month.
Why Is Delta Such A Big Deal? And Other Burning Questions About The Next Phase Of The COVID-19 Pandemic
The rise of the Delta variant has driven new COVID-19 outbreaks, rat- tled markets, and re- minded us that — for all the progress made in the fight against the pandemic — vulnerabilities persist.
In the United States, where the variant is esti- mated to be causing more than 4 out of 5 new infec- tions, largely among the unvaccinated, the out- breaks in places like Arkansas and Missouri have once again placed health systems under stress. They’ve also led to more questions about whether Delta even poses a threat to people who are vaccinated and compli- cated the discussion about what precautions schools need to reopen fully in the fall.
from death. Pretty much nothing in medicine is ab- solute, so a tiny fraction of vaccinated people will still wind up getting really sick, but there’s a clear reason why some 97% to 99% of current hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among those who are un- vaccinated.
Why is Delta such a big
deal?
It’s important to keep in
mind that Delta is a much bigger threat in places with limited vaccines access, unlike in the United States. But Delta spreads so effec- tively that it is fueling spikes in cases, and, in turn, increases in hospital- izations, in vulnerable U.S. communities as well.
Izzy Galvan, 20, wears a face mask while visiting the Griffith Ob- servatory overlooking downtown Los Angeles this week. JAE C. HONG/AP
Below, STAT runs through some of the most pressing concerns about Delta and how it’s chang- ing the landscape of the pandemic.
The most important takeaway: Even in the face
of Delta, vaccines are still doing what they’re de- signed to do. That is, they’re defanging the threat of a COVID-19 infec- tion, protecting people from getting so sick they have to be hospitalized and
FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDA PAGE 7-A