TAMPA, Fla. — It’s the four-year anniversary of COVID-19 cases in Florida.
On March 1, 2020, Florida’s first COVID-19 cases were confirmed—both of them were in the Tampa Bay area.
That day, Governor Ron DeSantis declared the situation a public health emergency.
Over the past four years, the CDC reports there have been more than 1.1 million deaths related to the virus.
“If we look at some of the peaks in the pandemic, the death rate was 25-30% of the national death rate for the pandemic,” said Dr. Laura Arline, Chief Quality Officer at BayCare.
The latest data from the CDC show the death rate is currently around 2.4%.
“The chances if you get COVID of dying from it are much lower than it was earlier in the pandemic,” said Arline.
Test positivity and hospitalizations are also down.
“Compared to where we were four years ago, I mean gosh, we are doing a lot better, a lot better,” said Dr. Doug Ross, Chief Medical Officer for AdventHealth Tampa.
Doctors stress that things could change. COVID-19 is still out there.
“It hasn’t gone away, and it’s not going to. It’s going to continue to mutate and stay active,” said Arline.
Right now, the JN.1 variant is making up the majority of new cases.
People are still getting infected, but the severity of the infections has changed.
“We still see the vast majority of hospitalized patients are still older patients greater than 65 plus,” said Ross.
Health officials said the vaccines have played a big role in changing the course of COVID-19.
“The vaccine has helped certainly. No question about it. And people have either gotten the vaccine or gotten COVID, or both, and obviously, their immune system has gotten better in terms of handling it,” said Ross.
The CDC even just came out with a new recommendation for a spring booster shot.
“Only in those individuals 65 and older or those who are immunocompromised,” said Arline.
Doctors believe vaccines will continue to be an important part of keeping cases low moving forward.
“For those who are older or who have underlying health conditions or are immunocompromised, they’re at risk for pretty significant complications from COVID if they aren’t vaccinated,” said Arline.