Palm Beach County is experiencing its biggest spike in COVID-19 cases since May. Florida is also experiencing an increase of cases and a decrease of vaccinations.

FAU

There are currently three active COVID-19 cases on FAU campuses, two of which are reported on the Boca Raton campus and the other on the Jupiter campus. The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases at FAU for the Summer 2021 semester is now 13.

According to the FAU Coronavirus website, staff and faculty will return to campus under normal operations on July 12 and August 16, respectively. 

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Palm Beach County is currently averaging 106 new COVID-19 cases and zero deaths a day, according to the New York Times. 

However, a new surge of cases appeared in the county recently.

“Infections swelled more slowly in Palm Beach County, with 889 more infections documented this week among residents, the biggest countywide gain since the last week of May,” the Palm Beach Post said.

As of July 3, 48% of PBC residents are fully vaccinated. 

STATE-WIDE

Currently, the state of Florida is averaging 1,694 COVID-19 cases and 29.7 deaths daily.

The Delta variant is making its way across the state with 280 infections across 34 counties, according to the Sun Sentinel. 

“Those infected include 82 people in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties — including a child under the age of 4,” the Sun Sentinel reported.

However, vaccination rates are dropping in Florida.

“The state added just 168,192 residents to its weekly vaccination count Friday, the Department of Health reported, less than at any time since the first week of January,” the Palm Beach Post reported.

46.1% of Florida’s population is fully vaccinated and 53.9% has received at least one dose, according to Our World in Data.

Kendall Little is the Managing Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @klittlewrites.