Marion County’s COVID cases down, quarantines up in students

COVID-19 data MCPS, November 6-12, 2021.

Marion County Update

COVID numbers in Marion County once again fell last week as the county registered 128 new cases, according to figures released by the Florida Department of Health Friday evening, down from 151 cases the previous week.

Along with the falling cases, both the county’s positivity rate and cases per 100,000 also fell. The positivity rate dropped from 3.3 percent to 2.6 percent and the cases per 100,000 went from 40.5 to 34.4.

According to a New York Times COVID Tracker, since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1 in 6 Marion County residents have been infected with COVID with the county seeing a total of 57,048 reported cases.

Trends in Marion County were also seen statewide with the State of Florida recording 10,746 new cases of COVID-19 during the week of Nov. 5 to Nov. 11, maintaining a downward trend in cases that began on Aug. 13.

The state’s vaccination rates dropped for the second straight week, as the state recorded administering 398,949 doses, bringing the population of the state vaccinated to 67 percent of those ages 5 and up.

Additionally, the state reported 44,694 doses of the vaccine have been administered to children ages 5 to 11.  The total population of children ages 5 to 11 in the state is just under 1.7 million.

Locally, Marion County reported 1,034 individuals vaccinated last week. However, according to Bill Thompson, a spokesperson with the Florida Department of Health – Marion County, the state does not track county-level vaccination numbers by age range breakdown, so it is unknown how many of the county’s children in the 5 to 11 age range are vaccinated.

Regarding hospitalization numbers, Health and Human Services data show 85 percent of all inpatient beds in Marion County hospitals are filled  with 4 percent of those being COVID patients.  Further, 89 percent of local ICU beds are occupied  with 6 percent being COVID patients.

MCPS Update

COVID-19 data MCPS, November 6-12, 2021.

Marion County Public Schools (MCPS) recorded 16 total new cases for the week of Nov. 6 to Nov. 12, as 13 students and 3 employees were confirmed COVID-19 positive by the Florida Department of Health in Marion County. The figures, released Monday morning, are similar to the 16 cases reported on both Oct. 25 and Nov. 1.

Students and MCPS employees in quarantine rose, however, with MCPS reporting 195 individuals as quarantined due to direct contact with someone testing positive for COVID-19, up from the 125 reported last week. There were 191 students and 4 employees reported in quarantine in the latest report.