Daytona Beach, FL - Data from the Florida Department of Health indicates a downward trend in positive COVID-19 tests, new COVID-19 cases, and hospital visits with COVID-like illnesses throughout Volusia and Flagler County.
And the same can be said when it comes to statewide statistics.
Since January, the number of emergency department (ED) visits with COVID-like illnesses has been on a steady, but slow decline in both Volusia and Flagler County. On Valentines Day, only 215 ED visits with COVID-like illnesses were reported in Volusia, which is down from 446 on January 21.
Flagler's trend is similar to Volusia's with reported ED visits declining from 99 to 54 between January and February. However, data shows that Flagler did experience a minor jump in visits between January 24 and January 31, but visits with COVID-like cases continued to drop after that.
For the first time in months, the number of positive laboratory tests has also dropped below the 10 percent threshold in both counties—which is considered as the "target range" for the state. On January 10, 11.87 percent of Volusia County's COVID-19 tests came back positive. From there, positive testing continued to decline down to 6.79 percent by Valentines Day.
As for Flagler, the county saw a positive test rate of 14.79 percent on January 10, which decreased to 12.18 percent on January 17. Between the 17th and the 24th, Flagler's positive test rate practically plateaued with positive tests making up 12.15 percent on January 24. Following the 24th, cases continued on a steady decline down to 6.13 percent by February 7.
However, the decline ended after positive tests jumped slightly to 8.4 percent on Valentines Day. But the county still remains under the 10 percent target range.
Downward trends similar to those found in Volusia and Flagler can also be seen statewide. Between January 10 and Valentines Day, reported ED visits with COVID-like illnesses dropped from 15,004 to 7,547—a drop of over 50 percent. Positive testing additionally dropped from 11.03 percent to 6.85 percent between those same dates statewide.
And while these downward trends bring positive news, residents should still abide by health and safety guidelines set forth by their local health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Be sure to wear a mask, practice social distancing and remember to wash and sanitize your hands often to cut down on the spread of germs.
By Friday afternoon (February 26th), almost 6,000 newly reported COVID-19 cases brought the state's total case count up to 1.898 million, with resident deaths over 30,000. You can find more detailed updates and old updates on News Daytona Beach's Community Coronavirus Dashboard.
