PANAMA CITY — Bay County has continued its trend of rising COVID-19 rates for more than a month, with a spike in new cases, deaths and hospitalizations in the past two weeks.
According to the Florida Department of Health in Bay County, the COVID-19 positive rate rose to 14.56% for the week of Dec. 19 from the 13.89% rate it had the week of Dec. 12. This jump follows a 1.43% rise in the rate two weeks ago, a 0.84% rise four weeks ago and a 2.4% rise six weeks ago.
The county saw 13 new deaths of residents with COVID-19 in the past week. To date, 203 residents with COVID-19 have died.