CDC: Florida has more cases of more-contagious COVID-19 variant than any state in nation

The Florida Department of Health reported an additional 15,019 coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the statewide total to 1,713,589.

Florida is also now leading the country in the number of cases of the more contagious COVID-19 variant known as B.1.1.7, first identified in England, which is spreading quickly through the state.

The latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday showed that Florida now has 125 cases — outpacing the 30 other states that have detected the variant. California, with the second-highest number of cases, has 113. The country has a total of 434 cases.

Volusia County was reported to have its first case of the variant Thursday.

On New Year's Eve, the state reported its highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases with 21,015. The second- and third-highest increases occurred Jan. 7 and 8 with just under 20,000 new cases both days.

Volusia County saw its highest single-day increase on Jan. 3 with 588 cases. The second-highest increase occurred on Wednesday with 574 new cases. The third-highest increase was Jan. 5 with 562 cases.

On Thursday, 68,904 Florida residents received a COVID-19 vaccine in the state, bringing the total number of doses administered to 1,948,148, according to a report by FDOH. Of those, 296,782 are booster doses.

The state’s daily positivity rate, calculated by using the total number of people tested for the virus and the total number of people who have tested positive, was 6.62% on Friday with more than 263,231 tests administered.

As of Thursday, 72,135 Florida residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19.

More: The more contagious B.1.1.7 COVID variant is spreading quickly across Florida

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Volusia County

New deaths: 0

Total deaths: 534

Total deaths of residents or staff of long-term care facilities: 236

New cases: 430

Total cases: 30,750

Total number of hospitalizations: 1,516

Current number of hospitalizations: 132

Daily positivity rate: 5.46%

Total number of vaccinations: 50,944

Number of booster doses: 1,025

Flagler County

New deaths: 0

Total deaths: 70

Total deaths of residents or staff of long-term care facilities: 5

New cases: 51

Total cases: 5,203

Total number of hospitalizations: 294

Current number of hospitalizations: 26

Daily positivity rate: 6.94%

Total number of vaccinations: 10,850

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: CDC: Florida has more cases of more-contagious COVID-19 variant than any state in nation

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