Just as it did last summer, Florida’s surge in COVID-19 cases is fading rapidly, though much later compared to 2020 case data. Hospitalizations are also falling off quickly, with fewer new patients admitted because of COVID-19, and more being discharged after being treated. But the number of deaths in Florida attributed to COVID-19 hit an all-time high this week, averaging 363 per day. If there is one bright spot on that metric, it’s the fact that deaths are a lagging indicator and are expected to fall just as rapidly as new cases over the next several weeks.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services yesterday, the state had 10,247 inpatients at 253 Florida hospitals with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. That was down from 10,979 on Tuesday, according to the same federal data. Over the last 30 days, Florida’s seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases has fallen from a peak of 21,000 new cases per day, down to just 11,816 cases. While that number is still elevated, the overall trend in the Sunshine State is heading back down toward previous levels.

Unlike Florida, some other states, including Texas and California, continue to see surging case numbers. The average number of new daily cases in Texas stands at over 16,000, which is near the state’s peak. Daily deaths there are averaging just under 300 per day – like Florida, Texas’s deaths are also at or near an all-time high. California’s cases are far below the peak that state saw last January, but like Florida, that state also experienced a summertime surge, and is currently averaging 10,300 new cases per day, which remains near the summer peak in that state. Deaths there are also trending upward, hitting an average of 132 per day this week.

The state of Pennsylvania released data collected on breakthrough cases that showed the overwhelming number of COVID-19 deaths – 97 percent – were among unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated people. Hospitalization data showed a similar trend, with 95 percent of all patients admitted with serious COVID-19 symptoms having not been vaccinated or only partially vaccinated.