It was a morning to deal with pent-up demand after COVID testing locations across the Tampa Bay area closed for New Year’s.
Public sites reopened on Sunday.
What You Need To Know
- Testing demand remains strong amid the surge of COVID’s omicron variant
- Florida breaks single-day COVID-19 record with 75,900 cases
- Where to get tested in the Bay Area
Florida reported nearly 300,000 new cases in the last week of 2021, with a positivity rate of 26.5%.
According to local health officials, 489 people — most of them unvaccinated — were admitted last week to Bay-area hospitals.
“Whether adults or children, we're not seeing the same level of severity. But, if you're unvaccinated, that's the group still at highest risk," said Dr. William Schaffner with Vanderbilt University Medical Center’ Division of Infectious Diseases.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show more than 205 million Americans are fully vaccinated. That’s about 62% of the entire population, including children under 5, who are not yet eligible.