Hospitalizations for COVID-19 continued to climb in Florida Thursday, as the state's coronavirus-related death toll surpassed 63,000.
There were 11,590 inpatient beds in use for COVID-19 in Florida hospitals, an increase of 212 from the previous day, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services. That accounts for about 19.98% of the state's total, according to HHS.
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Another 1,473 ICU beds were in use for COVID-19, an increase of 27, according to HHS.
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The Florida Hospital Association reported 11,207 confirmed hospitalizations with COVID-19, a one-day increase of 152.
The association said hospitalizations in the state have risen 39% in the past week.
Florida's virus-related death toll rose to 63,081 Thursday, an increase of 262 from Wednesday's number. Deaths can take days or weeks to confirm and report.
The state's new Covid cases dropped Thursday, with 55,573 compared with 71,742 the previous day, according to new figures released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Florida's 7-day moving average for daily cases reached a record high of over 65,700 earlier this week.
The dramatic rise in cases has been attributed to the fast-spreading omicron variant of the virus, as well as a large increase in people seeking testing.
The 7-day moving average for testing in Florida set record numbers last week, reaching nearly 180,000, according to the latest figures available from the CDC. That 7-day average had dropped below 52,000 as recently as late November.
New case positivity in the state has risen to 31.2%, according to the weekly report released Friday by the Florida Department of Health. The positivity rate had dropped to 2.1% as recently as mid-November.
In Miami-Dade County, the positivity rate has reached 34%. In Broward the positivity rate has reached 33.5%.
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