The number of Florida hospital inpatients with COVID-19 has topped 3,000 and is up more than 14 percent during the past week, according to data posted online Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The data showed 3,078 inpatients with COVID-19, up from 2,694 a week earlier and 2,253 two weeks earlier.
The new data also showed 259 COVID-19 patients in intensive-care units, up from 209 a week earlier.
Florida in recent weeks has seen steady increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, though the numbers remain lower than early in the year, when the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus swept across the state.
Meantime, the number of new cases and deaths reported globally fell everywhere last week except the Middle East and Southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organization.
In its latest weekly report, the U.N. health agency said there was a 12% drop in cases and a 22% drop in deaths globally. Still, it said that new weekly cases rose 19% in the Middle East and inched up 1% in Southeast Asia.
WHO's chief described the fall in COVID-19 cases, which peaked in January, as “a very encouraging trend.” Still, he warned that the pandemic was not yet over and urged caution.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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