COVID-19 tracker: State reports 441 new cases, four additional deaths in Lee County

The Florida Department of Health reported 441 new COVID-19 cases and four additional deaths in Lee County Friday.

The state identified the newly reported deaths as follows:

• A 90-year-old woman who had contact with a known case and whose positive case was counted by the state on Dec. 10.
• An 82-year-old woman who had contact with a known case (Counted Dec. 10).
• A 77-year-old man (Case counted Dec. 29).
• An 87-year-old man (Case counted Jan. 9).

Lee County's cumulative total of COVID-19 fatalities increased to 726, ninth-highest among Florida counties. Of those deaths, 305 or about 42% were either residents or staff of nursing homes. 

So far this month, the state has reported 54 deaths of Lee residents from COVID-19, about 61% of the reported death toll for all of December (88). 

More:Reported COVID-19 cases for Lee residents set pandemic high in December

The newly added cases pushed Lee's total to 47,422, eighth-most among Florida counties. In January, the county has added 6,787 new cases, an average of 452 per day. That's about 113 more cases per day than Lee averaged in December when it set a monthly record with 10,522 new cases.

Through Thursday, Lee's moving seven-day new case average was 413, about 53% greater than the same average on Dec. 1 (270). 

The seven-day average case rate is the average of a day and the previous six days of COVID-19 cases. This is recognized as a more accurate measure of the spread of coronavirus in a community. That's because it minimizes the impact of a single day with a very high or very low number of cases.

More:COVID-19 vaccine tracker: See how many people in Florida have been vaccinated, by county, state

More:Lee County shuts down phone system after filling reservations for 1,800 more COVID-19 vaccinations

More:Have questions about COVID-19 vaccine in Lee, Collier? Here's what we know

Through Thursday, the seven-day average for tests in Lee County was 4,476, about 48% greater than the seven-day average on Dec. 1 (3,027). The rate is the average of a day and the previous six days of COVID-19 tests.

Lee's overall positivity rate increased to 16.64% Friday, the highest since the start of the pandemic. The county's seven-day average positivity rate was 9.38% through Thursday, about 0.4 percentage points greater than it was on Dec. 1 (8.9%). The rate is the average of a day and the previous six days of COVID-19 cases divided by tests. 

According to the state Department of Health, a total of 1,939 people in Lee County have been hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Friday. However, that number does not reflect people currently in the hospital, according to the state.

As of approximately 2 p.m. Friday, there were 160 COVID-19 patients in Lee County hospitals, according to data from Florida's Agency for Healthcare Administration. That's one fewer patient than was reported at approximately the same time Thursday. The county's hospitals also had 12.5% of their total beds available and 19.2% of their adult ICU beds available, according to the AHCA. Florida's available percentages were 19.5% (hospital beds) and 16.6% (ICU beds), respectively. The AHCA also reported a total of 7,531 COVID-patients statewide as of 2 p.m. Friday. That's 230 fewer patients than at approximately the same time Thursday.

The Florida Department of Health is not reporting how many people have recovered from COVID-19.

Other numbers include the following demographics breakdown for Florida residents:

Age

• Age Range: 0 to 103
• Median Age: 43

Gender

• Male: 21,420
• Female: 24,185
• Unknown/No data: 361

Race

• Black: 3,628
• White: 27,100
• Other: 4,752
• Unknown/No Data: 10,486

Ethnicity

• Hispanic: 10,801
• Non-Hispanic: 24,214
• Unknown/No Data: 10,951

Residency

• Residents: 45,966
• Non-residents: 1,456

City, place of residence (if known)

• Fort Myers: 18,129
• Cape Coral: 11,495
• Lehigh Acres: 7,598
• Bonita Springs: 2,906
• North Fort Myers: 2,095
• Estero: 1,686
• Fort Myers Beach: 476
• Alva: 334
• Missing: 250
• Sanibel: 181
• Saint James City: 175
• Bokeelia: 129
• Matlacha: 116
• South Fort Myers: 97
• Bonita Beach: 57
• Boca Grande: 56
• FGCU: 46
• Miromar Lakes: 39
• Tice: 26
• Buckingham: 12
• Captiva: 7
• San Carlos Park: 4
• Pineland: 1

Tests reported for Lee County (through Jan. 14)

• Total tested: 284,991
• Positive: 47,422
• Negative: 237,569
• Percent positive: 16.64%
• Note: The Florida Department of Health has removed cumulative testing data from its COVID dashboard but the data can be viewed here.

View yesterday's report.