FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 29, 2020

Contact: Joint Information Center on COVID-19 for the State of Florida (850) 815-4940, ESF14@em.myflorida.com

Florida Department of Health Issues Update on COVID-19
~Statewide lab closures surrounding Christmas holiday cause percent positivity outlier~ 

TALLAHASSEE — Today, the Florida Department of Health (DOH), issued an update on COVID-19 in Florida. The reported positivity rate is 22.75 percent, which should be interpreted with caution due to reduced hours and closures at doctor’s offices, public testing sites, and laboratories for the holidays. These reduced hours and closures have resulted in less people tested and delays in result processing and reporting which have impacted Florida’s daily testing number by nearly half. As we continue to experience office closures and holidays through January 4, 2021, it is possible that data may continue to be impacted over the coming days.  

Additional information is included below to provide full context to today's report:

Testing:

On December 28, less than 63,000 individuals were tested per day. In the 10 days before December 25, an average of 152,300 individuals were tested per day. 

Cases per day:

Today, 11,887 new cases of COVID-19 in Florida were reported. This number is within the normal range of cases reported per day over the past two weeks.

Vaccinations: 

To provide Floridians with the latest information about vaccinations in the state, the Florida Department of Health has issued a COVID-19 vaccine report that will be updated daily. This report includes information on the COVID-19 vaccine by county, race, sex and age. Find the COVID-19 vaccine report here. Please find all daily reports here.

As of today at 7 a.m., 146,160 individuals have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Florida. 

Fatalities by date of passing:

Today, data reported to DOH shows there has been a steady decline in the number of reported Florida resident deaths who were previously diagnosed with COVID-19.

More information about COVID-19 Data in Florida: 

In order to make the daily COVID-19 report easier to download and more accessible, the daily report separates case line data in a separate PDF. The case line data report is available here. The state also provides a report detailing surveillance data for every Florida county, which is available here. The antibody COVID-19 test results report will be provided once a week and contains county, race and lab information on antibody COVID-19 tests conducted in Florida. The report for antibody tests conducted by private health care providers is available here and the report for antibody tests conducted at state-supported COVID-19 testing sites is available here.

More information on a case-by-case basis can also be found here.

To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, please visit the Department of Health’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage. For information and advisories from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), please visit the CDC COVID-19 website, this website is also available in Spanish and Creole. For more information about current travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State, please visit the travel advisory website.

For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida, please contact the Department’s dedicated COVID-19 Call Center by calling 1-866-779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day. Inquiries may also be emailed to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.

About the Florida Department of Health

The Florida Department of Health, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @HealthyFla. For more information please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.