Marion County COVID numbers dropping in community, schools, but new data sheds light on local death rates

[Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette]

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Posted October 25, 2021 | By Matthew Cretul
matthew@ocalagazette.com

Marion County’s COVID numbers continued their sustained decline last week as the county registered 252 new cases, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health Friday evening, down from 313 cases the previous week.

Further, the county positivity rate and cases per 100,000 also fell. The positivity rate dropped from 5.6% to 4.9% and the cases per 100,000 went from 84.0 to 67.7.

The state as a whole recorded 15,314 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Oct 15 to Oct 21, as statewide cases continued their sustained descent as well. Florida has not registered an increase in cases since the weeks of Aug. 13 to Aug. 20, when cases went from 149,714 on the 13^th to 151,715 on the 20^th.

Vaccination rates dropped too, as the state recorded administering 229,389 doses.

Overall county hospitalization numbers dropped from last week, but the percentage of COVID patients in the ICU rose slightly.

Health and Human Services data show 86% of all inpatient beds in the county are occupied, down from 88% the previous report, with COVID-19 patients making up 6% of the inpatient population, down from 10% previously reported.

Additionally, HHS data shows 88% of all ICU beds are occupied, and COVID-19 patients make up 11% of those in the ICU. Last week’s numbers showed 90% of all ICU beds were occupied, but COVID-19 patients made up only 10% of those in the ICU.

According to recently released CDC data, there were 694 deaths in the county, which ranks Marion 6 out of the 67 Florida counties for most COVID deaths per 100,000 since June 5^th with 186.3 deaths per 100,000 residents.

Moreover, Marion County reported 1,690 total deaths due to COVID since the pandemic began. No other county in the top ten has over 1,000, with the next closest being St. Lucie County with 979 total deaths.

Further, of the top ten counties in Florida, Marion has the 3^rd highest total COVID deaths per 100,000. The county has reported 453.7 deaths per 100,000 residents, behind Citrus County (500.9 per 100,000) and St. Lucie County (523.5).

MCPS Update

MCPS recorded just 18 total new cases for the week of Oct. 16 – Oct. 22, with all 18 cases being students confirmed COVID-19 positive by the Florida Department of Health in Marion County. No employees were among the confirmed cases.

The figures, released Monday afternoon, are less than half of the 41 cases reported on Oct. 16, and 49 cases reported on Oct. 11.

Quarantine numbers were down as well, with MCPS reporting 127 students and employees were quarantined due to direct contact with someone testing positive for COVID-19.

The quarantines included 123 students and only 4 district employees.

The Marion County School Board has previously indicated that it may revisit the masking policy if COVID numbers remain below 99.9 cases per 100,000 and the positivity rate for new cases remains below 10% for two weeks, which is in line with the CDC FLDOH recommendations.

The falling numbers in the county and across the state have put both categories within acceptable ranges for two weeks with the most recent release of state data on Friday.

As such, MCPS issued a press release in response to the falling numbers indicating masks will be optional going forward.