COVID Positivity Rate Spiking Across South Florida: 'We Are Going Through The Surge Right Now'
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The U.S. continues to break coronavirus records, adding more than 184,000 new infections on Friday. And the spike is being felt in South Florida.
"We need to pour more testing into the community to get a feel and identify who in the community is spreading the infection, because it isn't only a symptomatic person," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The states of California, Oregon and Washington are now urging people to stay local. If they must travel, they are asked to self-quarantine upon arrival.
In the state of Florida, the positivity rate for new cases of COVID-19 has also climbed. The state is now at 9.95%. Just two weeks ago, the positivity rate ranged at 5.8%.
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On Saturday, Miami Hurricanes head football coach Manny Diaz mentioned at their postgame conference the team almost didn't travel to Virginia as the virus continues to break records.
"Some of the things we encountered this week was just to get here and just to play. And the attitude that our guys kept. The way they wanted to go play," he said.
According to the Florida Department of Health, Monroe has a positivity rate of 8.16%, Broward is at 8.68% and Miami-Dade is at 9.53%.
And while people are out and about, Carlos Migoya, the president and CEO of Jackson Health System, is reminding people South Florida is very much in the midst of this pandemic.
Hospitalization rates Jackson Memorial Hospital have spiked.
"The number of Jackson has really been going up slowly for the last 14 days. I have also told you the numbers for the county have also been going up," he said. "In the last 14 days, the hospitalization in Dade has gone up by 27%."
In addition to that, there's concern the upcoming holidays will increase the spread.
"We think we are going through the surge right now in November," Migoya said. "And what everyone is saying is that during the time of holidays or any special times where people get together, what is making this a surge is that we are getting close to each other and infecting each other."
If you are at a gathering, medical experts ask you to please keep social distancing in mind and wear your mask.
