Nearly 32,000 FL Coronavirus Cases Reported Since Christmas Eve

FLORIDA — As Floridians celebrated Christmas over the holiday weekend, nearly 32,000 new coronavirus cases were reported by the state’s Department of Health. This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in Florida since the start of the pandemic in March to 1,280,177.

According to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, the DOH reported 10,670 cases on Christmas Eve and 5,949 on Christmas Day. Over the weekend, another 7,075 cases were reported on Saturday and 8,057 reported on Sunday. The state saw a total of 31,751 new cases over those four days.

The state’s positivity rate has also jumped over this time period. As of Sunday, Florida’s positivity rate was 11.08 percent compared to 7.89 percent on Thursday.

The rise in cases comes as two COVID-19 vaccinations have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and come onto the market recently. Florida’s been distributing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. A second vaccine by Moderna has also been approved.

According to John Hopkins University & Medicine Vaccine Tracker, 118,764 Florida residents have been vaccinated as of Saturday.

Deaths are also continuing to rise in Florida. As of Monday, there are 21,613 deaths related to coronavirus.