COVID-19 cases in Florida are once again on the rise, fueled by new cases involving children under 12

According to the Florida Department of Health’s weekly report, more than 26,000 children under 12 tested positive for the week, a 30% increase over the previous week’s tally. They make up 17.5% of the 151,749 new cases in the last week.

New cases involving those 12 and older actually decreased for the third straight week, while the weekly increases involving children under 12 have risen steadily, by 145% over the last month, according to the FDH report.

The state reported an additional 1,727 deaths over the last week. Most of the new deaths reported actually occurred more than one week ago, according to CDC data.

Only 286 of the 1,727 deaths happened in the last week, according got the CDC. In all, 43,979 Florida residents have died from COVID. Twelve of the deaths overall were in people under age 16, up from seven in the last month.

The addition of new deaths from previous weeks has now pushed the peak during this Delta wave of the virus to 200 a day, for the week ending Aug. 11. The high during the winter surge was 201 per day for the week ending Jan. 18. Last summer, deaths peaked for the week ending Aug. 5 at 228 per day.

Across the state, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Friday was 16,163, according to the Florida Hospital Association.

A little more than 12,916,000 people age 12 and older have been vaccinated in the state, or about 68% of those who are eligible, according to the state report.