COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida continue to drop

Tallahassee, Florida – The number of people who have tested positive for the virus in Florida hospitals has dropped below 3,000.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released data Monday that showed 2,922 inpatients had COVID-19, down from 4,123 a week earlier.

The data also showed that 480 COVID-19 patients were intensive-care units, down from 686 a week earlier.

The federal data came after the Florida Department of Health released a report Friday that showed a continuing drop in new cases after the state was hit by the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus in December and January.

The report showed 25,640 new cases during the week of Feb. 18 to Feb. 24. By comparison, the state had a high of 427,548 new cases during the week of Jan. 7 to Jan. 13.

The Department of Health report also showed that at least 69,790 Florida residents have died of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.